


Of Pirates and Princesses

by AutumnMalarkey



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies), The Isle of the Lost Series - Melissa de la Cruz
Genre: Angst, Child Abuse, Completed, Drama, Eventual Fluff, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-15
Updated: 2019-11-10
Packaged: 2020-09-01 10:34:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 29,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20256709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AutumnMalarkey/pseuds/AutumnMalarkey
Summary: Her heart skips a beat when she sees him once again. Evie tries to play it off as surprise and fear; like the rest of her friends, stunned once again that someone had managed to break through the barrier, she knows that is what it should be, but it isn’t.She sees him, and she is happy all over as she recalled the evenings on the Isle where he had tried to make her laugh and smile, where he brought her food from Ursula’s place when he noticed she was practically faint from hunger due to her mother starving her. Recalls the gentle way he talked to her, the kindness in his eyes beneath the eyeliner and attitude. Suddenly, she feels week in the knees.





	1. Broken Bridges

**Author's Note:**

> Flashbacks will be in italics but warning that a few of these flashbacks will have mentions/references to abuse, and some depictions of it.

Her heart skips a beat when she sees him once again. Evie tries to play it off as surprise and fear; like the rest of her friends, stunned once again that someone had managed to break through the barrier, she knows that is what it _should _be, but it isn’t.

She sees him, and she is happy all over as she recalled the evenings on the Isle where he had tried to make her laugh and smile, where he brought her food from Ursula’s place when he noticed she was practically faint from hunger due to her mother starving her. Recalls the gentle way he talked to her, the kindness in his eyes beneath the eyeliner and attitude. Suddenly, she feels week in the knees.

There isn’t much time to think, before Evie can process Harry and Gil standing behind them on the bridge (she’s sure Harry hasn’t looked in her direction once as of yet, consumed by the sudden appearance of his Captain), Uma’s spiralling out of the water and holding Hades’ ember in her hand.

“Hi boys.” Uma toys with the ember between her fingertips.

Evie sees the look of hatred in Mal’s eyes, sees the concern for the precious ember. She keeps herself firmly in front of Celia, making sure above anything else, the young girl is safe.

When Harry laughs, points his hook, and walks over to Uma with pure glee on his face, there’s a pang of jealousy playing in her chest. Why didn’t he look at her in the same way? Had their time on the Isle really meant that little to him?

“Welcome back.” He says in his thick accent that Evie adores.

She watches him curiously, while Mal and Uma spat with one another, as normally things went. Takes in the way he stands dangerously close to the edge of the bridge without a single fear of the water below, almost jealous because the idea of such a vast amount of water sends her own veins running cold.

Evie makes a note that if he took just one step backwards, he would surely fall from the edge, and her whole mental dilemma would be over once more.

He never does, listening to Uma’s tales of ‘coconuts and fish so big you can dance on their back’ with happiness and curiosity in his eyes. She knew those looks, it was what he had given her the first time they had met, just lost children, all those years ago.

_Evie was sat on the dock, looking over the boats on the water nearby. She knew she shouldn’t be here, but Grimhilde had gotten angry with her, and Evie had run from the confines of her castle, through the streets of the Isle until she found herself lost and at the water’s edge. Her legs crossed stubbornly beneath her, as if she was scared the sharks may jump up and nip at her feet if she dangled them at all._

_“What’s a pretty girl like ye doin’ out here?” The eleven-year-old Harry asked, his father’s hook in his hand, but it seemed far too big for his clutches._

_She was startled from her thoughts, tear marks down her young face (mascara running down her cheeks and streaks in her foundation so unnatural for a child of just ten), “Oh, sorry.” Evie was panicked, until she saw the boy was around her own age._

_"Yer know ye shouldn’t be out ‘ere.” He told her, but didn’t try to deter her away, instead he sat next to her, legs dangling off of the edge of the docks dangerously._

_Evie looked at his legs and gulped. “Aren’t you scared of the sharks?” She asked him, as if they were some mythical creature to her. They were, she had never seen one, and had no idea what they were, did, or looked like. All Evie knew was they were in the water below her, or so she had been told._

_Harry laughed, and quietened himself with his hook to his lips. “Sharks? In this water?” He still stifled a little laugh, “There’re no sharks ‘ere.” He told her, his amused smile still in place. He knew it was a threat the pirates often played. A defence mechanism of many around these areas to outsiders that came by, but Harry had never seen a shark in these waters, and he knew them like the back of his hand. “Is that what’s got yer so upset?” He asked, his eyes moving from the water below to the girls’ glistening eyes._

_Evie took her bottom lip in her teeth and chewed on it for a moment, smudging her red lipstick as she did._

_Harry eyed her curiously, watching her lipstick tinted lips with complete confusion; he’d never met a girl on the Isle who looked, dressed, or wore make-up like this girl did, and he had no idea why or how she had ended up here._

_“I, uh, had a fight with my mom. I got myself a little lost when I ran away.” Evie confessed, her cheeks blushing through her make-up._

_"Oh.” Harry said, hook pressed to his temple in thought. It was late, and his father didn’t like to let Harry out at night time (too much debauchery, he had told him) but if he was delivering a damsel in distress to her home, what could his father say? “Come on.” Harry stood, and offered Evie his hand to help her stand. “I’ll show you the way back.”_

_Finding herself gazing up at Harry, seeing the glint of the night sky and distant stars hovering over where the barrier ended, made her heart flutter for a brief moment. She realised she was staring; it was frowned upon by her mother, and so she quickly stopped and took Harry’s hand. The boy helped her to stand._

_“Thanks.” Evie said, dusting her outfit off quickly._

_Harry was stunned by the manners used by Evie knowing no one on the Isle had manners, he scratched the back of his head, not too sure on what to say in response. “Where abouts do yer live?” He asked._

_“In the castle through the forest.” Evie confessed, remembering the long trek she had taken to escape her mother’s rage. She couldn’t take it anymore, being home schooled and living there literally made it feel like a prison. She was never allowed to leave, and so the first time she did, of course she managed to get herself lost._

_Harry’s face showed genuine surprise and stun. There was only one person who lived that far out of the town, and it was the Evil Queen. Suddenly the pieces were fitting together, and he was scared for a brief moment. He considered getting his dad and letting him deliver his fair maiden home to the wrath of the feared Queen but saw the timid way Evie was playing with her sleeve and caught onto a nasty gash on her shoulder that lit up in the moonlight._

_“You’re hurt.” He pointed out, reaching a hand towards her shoulder._

_“It’s nothing. I told you, my mom was mad.” Evie took a step away from him before he could touch the wound._

_Harry had to nod his head. He understood the connotation of those words about as much as every child on the Isle did. He, too, had felt his father’s wrath, had scars down his back from his father’s hook to prove for it, so he wouldn’t prod his curiosity further._

_“Are you sure you want to go back so soon?” The boy whispered, his words almost eaten up by the sound of the water lapping at the rocks below._

_“Yeah. It’ll be okay.” Evie gave him a smile, now her eyes were less watery, that seemed genuine, and made him feel an unnatural pull to smile in return to her._

_“Alright. This way then.”_

_Neither child spoke as Harry lead them through the dock. Ducking into dark corners and alleys in order to hide from any villain who wandered the streets at this time of night. Soon enough they had made it to the forest, and almost to the castle Evie called home._

_Harry had to give it credit, it was huge and struck fear into him by just seeing it. The thought of living there was something he could only imagine. The large structure loomed over the towering trees intimidatingly. Harry had to gulp at the sight of it, and the thought of the woman who lived inside. _

_Evie walked on ahead, and he felt compelled to follow her despite his fear, she went around the side of the castle, to where a window on the top floor was open. There was a mismatched chain of sheets and blankets flapping in the wind that dangled from the window. Harry knew now that was how she had escaped._

_“Thanks for helping me back.” Evie had a twinkle in her eyes that brought out butterflies in his own stomach._

_“No problem, Princess.” Harry said, suddenly realising he didn’t know her name, Princess seemed more than fitting, after all, she was the daughter of a Queen._

_Evie grasped the blankets in her hands and began the tiring process of climbing up. “It’s Evie.” She told him in a small voice, he thought he had almost missed it or heard her wrong._

_“Evie?” He asked, she looked back at him and he knew he had gotten it right. “If yer ever need anythin’, just ask for Harry. You’ll know where te find me.” He answered, and swore she smiled at learning his name, too._

_Harry stayed planted on the spot, watching her climb until she disappeared into the bedroom, and began pulling up the chain of sheets behind her._

_He turned, and smiled at the woods, heading back towards them. “Evie.” He muttered, as he toyed with his hook._

She was pulled from the memories by the feeling of Celia’s hands on her waist and arm, the girl peeking from behind her at Uma and her crew and the bickering happening before them.

“Guarantee me that every villain kid that wants to can get off the Isle.” Uma said making Evie remember her earlier conversation with Mal about the decision to close the barrier permanently. Mal wouldn’t let that happen, she knew her best friend better than that.

“I can’t do that.” Mal said.

Uma walked toward the edge where Harry was, and dangled the ember over dangerously. “Well, how about now?”

“Deal. Deal!” Mal caved almost instantly.

It was quick, Evie realised, but she didn’t have a chance to dwell on that. Uma made an exaggerated fake drop of the ember, that prompted Evie into action.

“Uma!” Suddenly Celia let her waist and arm go, moving away from Evie sensing she was almost about to enter the fray. “Her word is good.” Evie vouched, her hand outstretched, wanting the ember just as badly as Mal did; they had to save Auradon before any other VKs could be invited over.

Harry side eyed her, a grin on his face, but nothing more than that. Evie almost felt a pang of pain from the look. He looked at Uma with more affection than he did her, and it hurt for a moment.

His attention was snatched away along with Evie’s as Uma moved the ember from the water’s edge. “I’ll still keep this, for the time being.” She tucked it into her top, “Because if you think I trust you to save the world on your own, think again.”

Evie settled, thankful to see the tension slip away, even though Mal seemed far from happy.

“This is a job for pirates!” Uma said, turning back to Harry and Gil as they agreed and high-fived one another.

Evie moved closer, Celia following behind her, as Jay muttered something she didn’t hear to Mal, probably reassurance, before he asked stupidly what happened to their bikes. Of course, Evie had already figured, they were long gone since Harry and Gil didn’t have any of them with them at the moment in time.

When Harry drew out his answer with a lovely hand motion of the bike exploding, then laughed. She saw the tension on Mal, Jay and Carlos’ faces. She suppressed a sigh, hating how much they couldn’t find a way to get along with the pirates, and stepped forward.

“Here’s a thought,” She was being glared at by Mal, but it was too late to back out of her words now, “We could try to be friends. Put our history behind us and celebrate our differences.”

She didn’t miss the look of uncertainty on the pirates’ faces, nor the glares from her own friends. But she knew, if she were to make a good example for Celia, this was her best way to do it.

“Yeah?” Evie asked, and no one’s expression faltered. She suddenly felt self-conscious and uncomfortable, and like she used to when she was little, she fiddled with the end of her sleeve, finding the small bag of gumballs she had tucked in there. “Who wants gum?”

Maybe shaking the bag of gumballs like they were dog treats was the wrong move.

“Let’s go.” Uma said without hesitation.

“No?” She asked again, her eyes this time finding Harry’s. He looked back at her and she suddenly couldn’t help a small flirtatious pucker of her lips. He always knew how to draw out her playful side, but even he seemed fed up of this game.

“Ah… No. I’m in charge.” Mal interrupted, stopping Uma’s steps. “Let’s go.” She ordered and walked off before the pirates had a chance.

When they all turned and walked up the bridge towards Auradon, Evie couldn’t help the disappointment from sinking in. She slipped a gumball from the bag and popped it into her mouth; at least chewing that would keep her quiet on the walk over, even if Harry Hook tried to talk to her.


	2. Sleeping Curses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a slight warning that there is mention of abuse and patching up in this chapter along with blood. So if anyone isn't fond of that, I encourage you to avoid the flashback.

Evie was almost disappointed that no one said a word on their walk along the bridge and into Auradon (namely Harry Hook). Even Celia had picked up on the vibes and said nothing at all. Evie chewed her gum the entire walk toward Auradon prep, but it was becoming tasteless, and so she threw it in a trash can as they walked past (because they didn’t litter here in Auradon). Along her walk, she had sent a quick message to Dizzy, and one to Doug, but was still waiting on a reply from either.

The school was almost as towering as her castle back home used to be, except it was lit up in the bright sunlight and looked welcoming and inviting. The grounds outside stunned Evie. She knew there was a sleeping curse, but to see it so clear of people, it made her stop in her tracks. People had literally fallen asleep at their chairs, amidst their lunch and conversations.

The concern filled her quickly and she checked her phone for the millionth time that day, yet there was nothing from Dizzy, nor Doug.

“They’re asleep.” Mal pointed out, as if everyone else hadn’t noticed. “Everyone.” Mal confirmed, putting her phone down, she clutched onto it. “I can’t get Ben.” She sighed.

“Or Dizzy or Doug.” Evie added.

“Or Jane. The signal’s out.” Carlos walked a little further from them, trying to get his message through to Jane.

“Is that Auradon Prep?” Celia asked, and Evie was so thankful to have a distraction then and there. The girl’s face showed pure awe and wonder as she saw the school, Evie remembered the same feeling coursing through her veins almost a year ago now.

“Yeah. When everybody wakes up, you’re going to love it.”

Evie watched Celia with a smile as the girl seemed thrilled by the prospect of going to school here. She was so thankful she had been given the chance to bring over more VKs from the Isle, and glad Mal was willing to fight for her to continue to do so.

She watched Celia look around in awe, while dialling Dizzy’s number another time, so happy she had picked up a phone for the girl for when she arrived here, and pressed it to her ear as it rang, and rang, and rang, endlessly.

The tone played in her ear, her eyes wandering from Gil, who had just discovered his love of fresh fruit, to Harry, who was, as far as she could tell, still up to his Isle ways as he rummaged through the pockets of those asleep out on the lawn. Evie almost went toward him, but saw Jay notice his actions and walk over with large, haste-filled steps, so she just settled for standing back and watching.

After scolding Harry, Jay tucked the money back into whoever’s pocket Harry had stolen it from, earning himself a look down at the hook in Harry’s hand. Both were cut off by Uma and Mal quickly.

Evie felt her worry grow as she listened to the ringing tone. Not only was Dizzy asleep right now, she had the two boys, too. She suddenly felt ill at the thought. Someone should have stayed and helped look after them. Why hadn’t she insisted on making sure an adult was there? Dizzy was only a child, after all, despite Evie knowing her mentality was much older, just like all of the children on the Isle of the Lost’s were.

_Evie’s fingers shook as she primed her needle with its small bit of string and tied off the end as carefully as she could. She was pale, and quaking, which was something mother would have frowned upon, but given the circumstances, she couldn’t blame her._

_Laying down on her bed, his shirt off and his back exposed, was Harry Hook. There were several white scars marring his pale skin, jagged and rough from his father’s hook, Evie knew. A new, bleeding and red, line went from his shoulder blade to the middle of his back. _

_“Are you sure you want me to do this?” Evie whispered. She knew she was on the other half of the house from her mother, but she still was terrified of being caught with a boy in her room, a pirate no less. She knew had Harry been a prince, Grimhilde would have never of complained._

_“Ye.” Harry sighed into her pillow, he’d been holding his breath for a while now, awaiting the throes of pain from her stitching him up, but it never came. _

_“Ar-” She went to ask, but he turned around this time, his eyes finding her’s._

_“Please, Princess.” Harry begged, and she knew she needed to do this, he needed her to do this. Harry wasn’t one to offer a please and thank you, so Evie knew this was a dire moment for him. _

_She was only eleven, he was twelve, but they had seen far more than they should have ever seen and experienced the horrors of the Isle first hand. “Brace yourself.”_

_His cries of pain were minimal. Harry buried his face into her pillow and bit onto the thin cotton to make sure he made little to no noise._

_Evie retched as she saw the needle go into his skin, and back out. She struggled to find purchase on the metallic object once it was coated in blood, but didn’t stop herself now, she was in this far, and had to keep going._

_It felt like the longest ten minutes of her life, and the longest of Harry’s, too, no doubt._

_When Evie managed to finally tie off and cut the bit of string, she breathed a sigh of relief._

_“Harry, are you okay?” She asked, with teary eyes._

_He didn’t move for a moment, but she saw him take deep breaths. Then he sat up with a pained groan. Evie helped him quickly, and propped him up with the pillow, not caring about the blood that would surely stain its off-coloured cream material._

_“I’m so sorry.” She apologised, seeing his tear stained face and wet eyes._

_Harry shook his head, still finding his bearings. “Don’t apologise, Princess. It’s okay. I’m okay, thanks to you.” He offered a smile to her, which she took graciously, offering her own, more beautiful one, in return to him. _

_“Here, hold still.” She said after a moment too long staring at him. She gathered some spare material from her sewing station and rushed back to the bedside. “I’m going to wrap it tightly, so you don’t pull the stitches.” She explained. _

_Harry looked at her so grateful for her help. He sat forward, revealing the blood-damp pillow. Evie ignored that and worked quickly on getting the wrapping around his chest as best as she could before tying it off. _

_Harry didn’t miss how close Evie was to him, and Evie didn’t miss it either. She looked at his eyes, he looked back. When he leant forward towards her lips, Evie jumped back quickly. “You should go. Mother, she’ll flip if she finds you.” _

_Evie scrambled to get Harry’s shirt off of the floor, giving it back to him and offering him a moment’s privacy while he put it on. When he stood to head toward the window, she gulped, remembering how he had painfully climbed up, and knowing he would rip his stitches if he left that way. _

_“No.” Evie said, stopping him, her hand atop of his on the bedsheet rope. “Let me just scout ahead, you can’t climb back down.” She would have let him stay there until he healed but knew if Mother saw a boy in her room it would be the end of both Evie and Harry. _

_Evie left her room as quietly as she could. Checking around every corner as she went towards the main entranceway. There was an echo from down the hall, a staticky TV playing some horrific show Evie knew her mother must be watching. She rushed back to her room, pressing her fingers to her lips. _

_“She’s watching TV in the other wing. We have to be really quiet.” _

_Harry understood and didn’t need to be told twice. Normally he quite enjoyed being a villainous little shit and thrived on angering villains before running off. But he knew the dire situation here, and if he did run away, he knew Evie would pay the price._

_They crept down the hall in near silence and made it to the front door without Grimhilde moving once, Evie mentally called it a small victory._

_She opened the main door just a crack, it creaked, and if she opened it any further, she knew the noise would alert her mother. _

_“Thanks.” Harry whispered to Evie, who smiled in return. _

_“I’ll see you soon.” Evie promised, and, on her tip toes, she pressed a fleeting kiss to his cheek._

_“I doubt you’ll ever see him again, Evelyn.” The voice came as a shock to both Evie and Harry. _

_Harry’s blood ran cold, and Evie’s face paled instantly._

_Grimhilde stood at the top of the balcony overlooking the doorway, disgust and disappointment on her face. Then she made her way toward the staircase._

_Evie was frozen like a deer in headlights. _

_Harry didn’t quite know what to do._

_“Go. Just go.” Evie said, and so he did._

_Like a coward, he ran away from the castle, and into the forest through the thicket, terrified of the Evil Queen following him, but he knew she hadn’t. The haunting echo of the slap against Evie’s skin rang in his ears as he went._

_Harry Hook felt cowardly and completely sick. _

Evie still pressed the phone to her ears. It rang and rang monotonously as she walked backwards away from the bickering before her. She felt something sharp and cold dig into her back and turned with haste.

Eyebrows knitted in confusion, Evie realised this wasn’t a statue that had been here before… It wasn’t even a statue she had _seen_ throughout Auradon.

And yet it looked so strikingly familiar.

She knew the members of Doug’s band group well, he had made her hang out with them several times. She also knew Hannah as the girl who _definitely_ had a crush on Doug, but was holding it back due to him being with Evie…

“Guys.” She said, realisation finally dawning on her. She turned around to see the group walking towards her, dropped her hand to her side and hung up the phone. “Hannah turned to stone.”

Surprisingly Uma was the first over to analyse the statue, followed by Celia. The rest of the core four took their place at Evie’s side.

“Alright, everybody stay on their toes.” Jay warned them.

“Look, since we’re here, let’s check the school.” Uma shrugged. Gil and Harry met at her side.

“No.” Mal cut short, but Evie had to give it to Uma; it was a good idea. “Audrey went straight for the crown so, I think it’s safe to assume that she’s gonna go for Ben and his castle next. That’s where we’ll go.”

Evie couldn’t agree with her best friend. She understood Uma’s idea, they were _right here_ at the school, it would be useful to scope it out, and she had a feeling Mal was just throwing a different plan out there just because she wanted to be the leader of whatever this so called ‘group’ was.

“Says who?” Uma stepped forward.

“Says me.” Mal stepped forward, too.

“Says you. And that’s supposed so mean something to me?”

They were squaring each other up again, and that idea made Evie so uncomfortable; all of them got so much grief on the Isle, could they really _not_ just get along for now, instead of fighting once again?

“Guys.” Evie cut it short, making sure her glare was aimed in Mal’s direction, her look sending across all she needed to say. ‘Cut it out, we need to stick together.’

If Mal cared or not, she didn’t know. But they soon broke off from their stance.

“To the castle.” Mal said, and off she walked, first, making sure the group knew who their leader was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone for the overwhelming response to this story, I do appreciate it, and I'm grateful for any feedback anyone can offer.


	3. Night Falls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Flashback has some minor references to abuse. 
> 
> I've tried to put in some additional bits here and there of Evie and Hook in the present day, but most changes to the main story will be coming next chapter and the few after that, after One Kiss doesn't quite go to plan...

They made haste towards Ben’s castle, a place Evie had only ever ventured a few times, mostly if Mal couldn’t make it to her place for a dress fitting. She envied it but tried to remind herself that those thoughts were her mothers, and she was very happy with her own little starter castle instead of an actual castle and a prince.

Dude brought them through towards Ben’s quarters, after they’d stumbled across Belle and Beast asleep in their meeting room.

“Ben!” Mal called out, and Evie fought the urge to remind her that he was probably asleep and wouldn’t hear her.

“This way.” Dude announced as he ran on ahead. Even for such a small dog, he could move awfully quick.

“Ben could be asleep anywhere.” Mal grumbled, and Evie felt sorry for her as she kept her hand on Celia’s back, protectively guiding the girl through the castle.

“Or turned to stone.” Celia piped up.

“Okay.” Evie found herself putting a gentle hand over the young girl’s mouth to keep her from adding anything of such nature into the conversation, knowing just how much Mal would freak out with that newly added thought. She cocked her head, locking her eye’s with Celia’s for a moment with a warning look on her face.

“Ben!” Mal called again, thankfully either not hearing or ignoring Celia’s words.

“I got a scent. Very pungent cologne.” Dude added from where he sat at the end of the hallway. “Easy to track. Follow me, people.”

“That’s great, Dude.” Jay complimented the talking dog.

“FYI, I give great cuddles, too.” Dude said casually.

Gil muttered on about an elk head or something like it, Evie didn’t pay too much attention. Her hand was still over Celia’s mouth, which she hadn’t realised. Instead, she eyed up Uma, who was tracing scratch marks along the wall. Since when had they been there?

“Hold up.” They all stopped walking and looked at the strange marks on the wall. “What’s this?” Uma asked, almost as if she was implying this may be a normal occurrence in Auradon.

Carlos stepped forward, too. “Any chance this was already there?” He asked. Evie remembered that he and Jay had never ventured to the castle, always busy with their Auradon Athletics duties.

She found her hands making their way to their normal position, her hips, a defensive stance she took when nervous, to make herself seem bigger than she is. The sight of the half cut off picture frame on the wall and floor had sent some genuine panic into her.

“And follow me!” Dude said, rushing off down the hall, breaking Evie’s worried trance.

How Dude’s tracking had led them into a room in the castle full of suits of armour was beyond Evie. But she could see, from a quick glance around, that there was no sight of the King of Auradon in the room. Something didn’t sit right with her. As everyone else walked in the room, she took Celia’s shoulders and stopped her at the doorway.

“Stay here, okay?” Celia didn’t seem happy but nodded anyway so Evie took it as permission to enter the room with the rest of them.

Jay and Harry went off to one side, while Gil and Carlos hung back near the door with Dude. Evie saw Uma and Mal walk further into the room and took it as her cue to follow the two, making sure they didn’t kill one another was a mission she had given herself for the rest of the day. She gazed at the beautiful stained-glass windows around them before moving up toward the suit of armour at the end of the room.

“I wonder what fried octopus tastes like.” Evie caught the end of Mal and Uma’s conversation and had to roll her eyes.

“Okay. Why don’t we _not_ do this.” She was hastily cut off by Uma, who was clearly annoyed, but at who, Evie wasn’t sure at the moment.

“We’re celebrating our differences.” Uma sarcastically threw back in Evie’s face her words from before whilst staring Mal down, despite Evie standing between the two of them.

“I believe we’re being challenged.” Harry said, and that accent made Evie forget all about the two arguing girls in front of her, looking over toward Harry, who looked seriously worried, for once.

“Let’s split up and look for Audrey.” Uma suggested.

“That makes absolutely no sense.” Mal counter-argued, Evie’s gaze taken from Harry toward her best friend, silently hoping Mal would give up her pride soon enough. “Unless you give me my ember, she’s going to spell you.”

There was a large, metallic clanking sound, cut off by a yell from Harry. “Girls!” Now that caught all of their attention. “We have a situation here.”

Evie looked to the armour in stun and confusion as it moved with a pink hue of magic surrounding it. It spoke with Audrey’s voice, and brandished a very sharp, metallic sword. “Do you like a prince, Mal? How about a knight in shining armour? Or knights…” There was a shrill laugh, and the armour moved toward them, followed by the other suits around the room doing exactly the same, panic had set in completely.

Evie took to run to the end of the room to try and make sure Celia was safe but was cut off by two knights crossing their swords together, the metal glinting in the light. She knew there was no way through.

_It had been a week since the incident in her castle with her mother. Enough time had passed now for the bruises that marred her skin to begin fading away, and the threat of her mother to stop looming over her head. Evie had felt so guilty for what happened, and for not checking on Harry sooner, that she took the risk despite her mother’s threat of killing Harry if she caught her near the boy ever again._

_She knew her way through the forest now, navigated the streets of the Isle easily enough to keep under the radar, and found her way to the dock with a lot of ease. _

_The ledge overlooking the water was never normally populated with people, and so Harry and herself had stuck to meeting up there throughout the past couple of years with one another, just to chat and catch up away from their parents’ gazes._

_Harry wasn’t here tonight. Evie didn’t know if he would show up, or if he had been scared off by her mother’s threats, and that terrified her a lot. Her eyes kept downcast watching the water lap below, now dangling her own legs over the sides, after being completely reassured by Harry that there were absolutely no sharks in the water here._

_“Didn’t expect to see yer ‘ere, Princess.” Harry said, and it brought her instant relief._

_“Oh, Harry.” Evie smiled and turned to face him. “I’m so happy to see you.” She looked close to tears, and Harry couldn’t even quip back to her. He sat beside her and wrapped her in his arms, his hook sitting limply on the dock beside him. _

_“Missed you, too, Evie.” He said into her dark blue locks as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. _

_The moonlight did Evie no favours. He could see how sunken in her eyes were, and where yellow bruises were healing underneath her foundation. He felt sick and guilty for leaving her there that night. Beneath his arm, he felt her ribcage prominent under her clothes, and knew she hadn’t eaten in a while, another sick punishment from her mother._

_“Come, Princess. Let’s get somethin’ te eat.” He stood and gave her his hand to lift her to her feet._

_Evie wasn’t fond of Ursula’s place due to the rumors that went around the Isle about it, but Harry Hook swore by it. She walked alongside him, his arm around her waist, holding her close to his side, and guided her into the building where a girl with sea green hair was serving food to pirates. She couldn’t have been any older than Evie was._

_Hook discarded the sword from his belt at the sword check barrell before walking toward his friend. “Uma, table fer two.” He said, and Uma looked toward Evie distastefully. She dumped a tray on a nearby pirates table and, wordlessly, lead them toward a table in the corner, just out of view of the door._

_“You must be Evie.” She said, the scowl still stuck on her face._

_Evie nodded, her eyes glinting for a short moment at the very realisation that Harry had spoken about her to one of his friends. She wasn’t a secret from them. It felt almost… nice. “Nice to meet you.” Evie finally managed after realising she hadn’t spoken back when she had been spoken to, something that her mother would have punished her for._

_Uma said nothing but rolled her eyes. She turned toward the back of the shop and walked inside._

_“She’s alright if ye give her a chance.” Harry reassured Evie as he guided her to a chair before taking his own. _

_Evie nodded, wordlessly. Harry looked at her beneath the harsh lights of the restaurant, if you could call it that, and saw the full extent of the damage her mother had dealt her. _

_Before he could ask anything about it or offer the apology that was on the tip of his tongue, Uma returned with two trays of food. She didn’t slam them on the table, which surprised Evie. But when she delicately placed them down, Uma leant toward Evie, which made her cower a little. “You don’t need to fear me. Unless you mess with my first mate’s heart, then you should be worried.” Uma said, and Evie tried to wrap her head around the words. Was Uma being nice, or not?_

_Uma stood straight, squeezed Harry’s shoulder reassuringly, and returned to her job in the back of the restaurant. _

_Evie was starving, and while normally, she ate her food with a slow restraint and had trained herself to only ever eat half of what was on the plate mother gave her, she couldn’t help herself from digging into the food. It wasn’t the best she’d ever had, but it was the first thing she had had in such a long while, so she didn’t mind. There was no cutlery, so she scooped up some chips in her fingertips and ate them, followed by breaking off bits of the small fish. _

_Evie glanced up, expecting Harry to be looking at her repulsed or disgusted by her actions, but he merely chuckled, and gave her a reassuring look, before mimicking her exactly to let her know it was okay. He was just so relieved she was eating something for once, usually terrified when he saw her starving and only eating small bites of her food. The Evil Queen must have really done a number on her. _

_She still tried to be as restrained as possible. She scoffed down a little over half of the tray of fish and chips before leaving the rest sitting there. It didn’t reassure her stomach, which was half grumbling with the need for more food and half churning with a sick feeling from eating too much too quickly._

_Harry reached his hand across the table and took hers in his warmly. “I’m sorry.” He said, and to anyone else it would have been vague, but Evie knew exactly what it was for._

_She shook her head, her dark blue curls moving with lack lustre. “Please don’t.” She said, giving him a small smile. “How’s your back?”_

_Harry looked from his own food now and gulped. “S’good. Barely scaring… Healing well.” She saw it in his eyes, the ‘thanks to you’ that was hanging on the tip of his tongue. Evie nodded in understanding, happy they could read each other like this. _

_Evie smiled at him, but it faltered when she glanced over and saw Uma wiping a cloth over the bar at the front of the restaurant, her eyes trained on Evie in a firm glare. Evie pulled her hand from underneath Harry’s, which made him turn and catch Uma’s gaze with a roll of his eyes. _

_“She’s protective. S’funny, really. Ye wouldn’t think I was older than ‘er, eh?” He laughed, but Evie could only force one._

_The door to the restaurant opened, which wasn’t unusual, and it had done so since they entered, but the silence that followed was very unusual. Like all of the air in the place had been sucked out of it. Evie saw Uma freeze. Harry froze, too, at the sound of heavy boots against the wooden floor. He looked to Uma and confirmed something, something that made Evie gulp with worry. _

_“We should be goin’.” He said quickly, and rose from his seat, but Evie was stiff and frozen. _

_A deep chuckle pierced the silence, and Captain Hook strolled over to their corner sanctuary. “Harry!” He said, and Harry froze, clutching his hook in his hand._

_His father looked at his standing son, toward the girl he was with. _

_A grin spread over Hook’s face, one of pure amusement, and Evie didn’t understand why. _

_“Ah!” He exclaimed, Evie jumped at the volume, and didn’t realise how close he suddenly was to her. His hook pulling some of her loose hair back as he smelt it creepily. “A pretty pearl. I knew my son would have good taste.” Hook said with a chuckle of laughter._

_He moved over toward Harry, clapped him on the back harshly, which made Evie wince as she remembered the scars and cuts on his skin there, before looking genuinely proud of his son. “When your date is over, we should have a talk, son.”_

_Date? Evie tried to remind herself this wasn’t a date. She tried to draw her eyes away from the metallic glint of Captain Hook’s hook as it shone in the light._

_“She was just headin’ off, weren’t ya, princess?” Harry said, almost as if he was giving her a hint to make herself scarce, before something bad happened, but she was glued to her seat. “Sure, she can find ‘er own way ‘ome.” He nodded and lead his father towards the exit of the chip shop. _

_“Make sure to say goodnight properly, Harry.” Hook scolded his son, which is how Harry forced himself to lean down and kiss Evie’s forehead tenderly._

_She was sure she heard a faint, “Sorry,” as he bent down to her. Either way, his eyes certainly said it as he left with his father, reclaiming his sword from the barrell near the door. _

_Harry turned and gave Uma a look on his way out of the restaurant, what it said, Evie could only guess._

_A moment later, Uma was walking toward Evie, guiding her to stand despite her stunned state, and lead her from the restaurant all together._

_“It was dangerous of you to come here.” Uma pointed out as she walked with Evie at her side toward the edge of the pirate part of town. _

_“I just wanted to see…”_

_“If he was okay. I get it. But do you think he will be once his dad knows who you really are?” Uma asked, and Evie shivered slightly at the thought of it._

_She didn’t know what to respond, she was worried, sure, but carried on walking back toward the castle that was her home._

_Uma didn’t stop walking next to her, and she guessed that was what the look between her and Harry had been: make sure Evie got back to hers safely._

_“You don’t-” Evie started, Uma cut her off._

_“-A pirate always finishes the job.”_

_Evie could only nod, because she had no idea about pirates or their code. _

_“So, you and Harry are?” Evie asked very timidly, so much so Uma almost missed it._

_“Friends.” Uma said bluntly, “We’ve known each other since we were kids. My mom’s Ursula, and his dad is Captain Hook, it was just like it was meant to be.” She shrugged._

_“Oh.” Evie was confused, were they meant to be together? Had she stolen Harry from Uma? For a moment, she had to remind herself, she wasn’t dating Harry. They were friends, they looked out for each other, and occasionally kissed anywhere but the lips, because the lips would have been weird, lips would definitely have been dating._

_“Not like that. I ain’t interested in him. Ya can have him.” Uma once again stated bluntly. “But like I said, he’s a friend, and if you hurt him-”_

_Evie didn’t know where it came from, but for once in her life, she cut the conversation off there, “-I would never. I promise.”_

_Uma only rolled her eyes. “Promises ain’t a thing here on the Isle, princess.” She said her nickname as if it were almost a sin to be one, nothing like when Harry said it, with adoration and care. “Don’t delude yourself.”_

_Evie only nodded, looking to her feet to watch each step she took with care and complexity. Anything to not look at Uma, and anything to not keep the conversation up any further. Soon enough the castle was before them, and Evie sucked in a deep breath to reassure herself that she wouldn’t be in trouble tonight._

_“Thanks.” She said, catching Uma off guard. She smiled and ran around the corner toward her blanket rope to go back into her room._

_Uma stood her ground and rolled her eyes. “I have no idea what he sees in her.” She muttered, before she turned and began venturing back through the forest._

Evie snapped into action, breaking up Mal and Uma’s argument, she held her sword tightly and stood in the centre of the room, making sure to have her friend’s backs.

She almost failed, Carlos’ sword slipped away from him, but Celia slid a shield to him which she was so thankful for, Evie defended him against the knights that came near him while he reclaimed his own sword.

Distracted for the moment by keeping her eyes firmly on Carlos, Evie didn’t notice the sword coming straight for her. She heard a _clink _of metal against metal right behind her, and jumped, startled, turning around to face the knight behind her, ready to defend herself.

Evie realised that she didn’t have to. Harry Hook stood there, his sword blocking one of the knights own swords, his hook grabbed onto another. He was bending backwards from the weight of stopping them from getting anywhere near Evie, and she was stunned momentarily.

“Bit of help, Princess.” He quipped, and Evie was thankful the rest of the room were so distracted by their own battles too notice.

She used her sword to knock one of the knights backwards, sending it stumbling, before sending the other stumbling, her hand on Harry’s back to usher him to stand straight.

Evie went to open her mouth, a thanks sitting on the tip of her tongue, but as fast as the moment had come between them, it was gone.

“Watch yer back.” Harry told her, bluntly and quickly. He rushed off toward more knights to try and keep them at bay.

Evie didn’t have time to think, two more knights were approaching her, their shields in front of themselves as they moved. She took one large sweep and knocked both of their shields powerfully.

Evie was very thankful that Mal had some spells memorised. And soon enough they were confusing the knights with their dance moves in different spots around the large room before, eventually, they all collapsed into a pile in the middle of the room.

She sighed, letting her sword fall to the floor with a clatter of relief.

Everyone around the room began celebrating their win. Carlos and Gil, Harry and Jay all chest bumping and cheering. For a split moment, it seemed as though Mal and Uma were even going to high-five one another. Evie felt as though she had won the battle completely, before it was snatched away by Mal and Uma’s frozen hands mid-air.

“No.” She had to sigh in disappointment as the two teams came back together, once again fragmented. Mal, Jay and Carlos on one side, Uma, Gil and Harry on the other. Evie was stuck right in the middle and hated it completely as they all celebrated within their own small groups.

“Guys, come on. This was so great. We were a team. We worked together.” She tried her hardest, but Mal was, once again, staring Uma down. “Come on.” She reached for Mal, only to have her move her hand quickly. “Come on.” Evie tried again, touching Uma’s elbow, there was a glare from the girl, one Evie remembered when she first met her. Evie sighed, but then an idea came to her mind, knowing that it had worked the night before to bring the new V.K.'s together in her house.

“You know what we should try? An icebreaker.” Her three friends seemed dismayed by the idea completely, so she turned toward the pirate three with a smile on her face. “You say something you really like about the other person, okay? I’ll start.”

And, suddenly, she remembered that she had to think of something, and quickly. She looked from Gil, to Uma, then landed on Harry, and somehow, the old thinking she had came to her far too quickly, even though he was refusing to look in her direction, “Harry.” He let out a breath he had clearly been holding, and still didn’t look at her. “Great accent… Now you go.”

She didn’t miss the way he opened his mouth to say something, whether it would have been a genuine compliment, or something sarcastic, Evie didn’t know.

“Is she always this perky?” Uma asked, stopping Harry in his tracks, she was looking at Evie with disgust and wide eyes, before looking right through her to Mal. Evie wanted to remind her that she _knew_ Evie was always this perky, but she didn’t. Her three friends had no idea about Evie’s relationship with Hook or Uma, and she didn’t feel like opening up that can of worms today; they already had _so_ much to deal with.

“Oh, it wasn’t really your turn, but thank you.” Evie said towards Uma, ignoring the fact it was probably meant as something offensive, she didn’t care. Perky on the Isle was bad, perky in Auradon was good. Harry looked at her now, so did Uma, their eyes full of unsaid words, along with Evie’s own forced smile towards Uma.

Of course, Mal had to try and break it up. “Okay. Evie, come here.” She pulled her friend away from their gaze and to face herself. “I love you,” Mal started.

“I love you.” Evie said back (the irony of her saying it to Mal hung deep in her thoughts when she still struggled very much to say it to Doug.)

“I love this energy, but we are very short on time. Audrey clearly knows that we’re here and we need to get out of here. ASAP.”

The condescending tone wasn’t lost on Evie, but she didn’t mind it. For once, she was almost _grateful_ that Uma interrupted. “Alright, where does this cheerleader bunk down? Even if she’s not there, we might find some sort of clue.”

“Actually, she’s still in the dorms.” Evie informed Uma, knowing she was about to get an ‘I told you so’ look in response, thanks to her original suggestion of checking the school while they were there.

“You’re right, because of the Summer School.” Mal pointed out.

Harry laughed as if it was the funniest thing he had ever heard. “What? Summer School? Summer… _School_! No wonder she wants revenge.” His laughter was almost infectious, and Evie couldn’t help but almost laugh too, her face creasing into the familiar turn of a smile. She was so glad Mal interrupted, because she had almost forgotten that smiles and laughter give you wrinkles.

“Okay. I need you guys to go find Ben. We will meet back at Evie’s in two hours, okay?”

“Sounds like we’re going with my plan. I’m just saying.” Uma couldn’t help but point out, just as Evie had thought she would.

Evie refrained from offering another sigh at the two girls once again arguing.

“It was kind of the obvious plan.”

“Uma said it first.” Gil piped up.

“Right. So, my plan.”

“Whatever.”

Evie was getting fed up of her head moving from one group to the other. She found a moment of relief in Mal storming off out of the room and looked toward the pile of knights in the centre. How was she even going to do this? She had known for a long time about Mal and Uma’s hatred of one another, but this was taking it too far now. Lives were at risk, and it seemed as though nothing would ever come together if they kept on acting like this with one another. She dropped her hands from her hips, rolled her eyes, and followed them all out of the castle to go and check out Uma’s plan, because, if she were being honest, Evie knows it was Uma’s plan all along, no matter what Mal said.


	4. One Kiss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two flashbacks here, because I also wanted to begin to explore some of Dizzy and Evie's past as well as her's and Harry's.

She was quite fed up with Mal, but she couldn’t work out why… Something was definitely adding to her mood, and Evie wasn’t too sure if it was the appearance of Harry, or the fact she was so concerned about Dizzy (and Doug, she had to keep reminding herself) and Auradon not being safe.

Instead of letting herself worry, she did as Fairy Godmother had told them once, and focused on the now. Namely Celia, who she was actively trying her hardest to steer down the right path. It was difficult, the girl loved using her cards to get money from people, and also would steal from them, if the fact she had taken the remote to activate the gate from them was anything to go by.

Her and Mal had searched the main campus, the class rooms, the tourney pitch, the lunch room, but there was no sign of Audrey. They stood at main entrance of the dorms, defeated more than anything.

“You take the left wing, I’ll take the right.” Evie said, knowing they didn’t have a lot of time to waste.

Her and Mal had left Uma and Celia in Audrey’s room, trying to find any clues as to her whereabouts. The look of concern Mal shot her wasn’t one Evie missed.

“No, what if she curses one of us? The other won’t know. We’re safer together.” Mal tried to argue, but it was wasting more time, time that they didn’t have if they didn’t find Audrey quickly.

“Neither of us have the ember, we’re only going to be in the same position as we would be apart, but quicker.” Evie stated, very quickly, taking Mal aback. “Five minutes. We meet back up here if we find nothing, and we go back to Uma with a new game plan.” Evie was almost glad Mal didn’t have her ‘leader of the pack’ complex with her, because she knew had Uma suggested it, it would have had another protest of them discussing things further. As it was, Evie rushed off toward the right wing, and Mal the left. Both of them noisily opening each door in the dorms, not leaving a room unchecked.

Five minutes later, the pair met back on the landing, out of breath from running so quickly, and empty handed.

“No sign of her. There’s a few people asleep, but obviously she could be long gone from here now. And with your mother’s staff, who said she even had to be in the area to do curses? She didn’t need to be to control those knights.” Evie chewed her bottom lip worrisomely.

Even Mal’s eyebrows were knitted together with worry about where Audrey was, and what she could be doing. “You’re right. Maybe Uma or Celia found something in her room.” That was all they had to go on. Last they saw, Uma was rooting through Audrey’s drawers, while Celia was checking through her closet and make-up table.

“Come on.” Evie said, and went to tug Mal’s hand as they went in the direction of Audrey’s room, but remembered her reaction in the room with the knights and thought better of it.

She turned and began to walk off, when Mal caught her instead. “Hey, you alright?” She asked, her eyebrows were knitted together in a different manner now, the concern more so for Evie, her eyes were filled with worry, too.

“Of course. But a lot of people won’t be if we don’t move quickly.”

Taking it as a cue not to ask any further, Mal and Evie fell into step with one another, and walked down the hall. Evie opened the door to Audrey’s room, revealing Uma laying on her bed with Audrey’s diary, and Celia playing dress up with Audrey’s jewellery. “She’s nowhere on campus.” Evie informed Uma more so than Celia.

“Found her diary. And **dang**, did you ruin Audrey’s life.” Uma said to Mal more so than Evie, a glimmer of amusement in her voice.

“Okay. So, did you find anything in there that we don’t already know or…”

“She hangs out at Fairy Cottage, you know, where Flora, Fauna and Merryweather hid her mom from your mom.”

Evie tried to recall if Audrey had ever mentioned the cottage, or where about it would be but only drew up a blank.

“Yes. The irony is not lost on me.” Mal answered with a fake laugh to accompany it.

“How could anyone with this bed ever be unhappy?” Uma asked, laying down against the pillows.

Evie remembered that feeling; the realisation that there were real beds, ones that came with new mattresses, pillows and blankets. That didn’t have springs poking out or were so worn down you could never find a comfortable position to get a good night’s sleep.

“Okay. How do I look?” She was thankful for Celia breaking her from her thoughts, and turned to see the girl wearing Audrey’s tiara and pearls as she posed against the back of the chair.

For a split second, she couldn’t help herself but feel proud of Celia. She did look cute and could definitely do with helping out with Dizzy’s accessory business at Evie’s 4Hearts. Then she remembered she was the adult in the situation (which was weird because she was barely seventeen) and she was _supposed_ to steer these kids in the direction of good over the summer before school began.

“Okay. The bling stays here.”

“But she’s bad.” Celia told her, bluntly.

“And we’re not.”

She didn’t miss the disappointment on Celia’s face, or the sulk she gave as she removed the jewellery.

The room sat in still quietness for a moment before Mal ran a hand through her purple locks. “We better get to Evie’s and meet up with the boys.”

For someone who was so concerned about them all being cursed while separated from one another, Mal didn’t even question leaving them in the room as she left to the hallway to make her way toward Evie’s home.

“Come on.” Evie said, pulling Celia to her feet and ushering her out of Audrey’s room. “That means you, too.” She said, pointedly to Uma, who groaned and turned into Audrey’s pillow.

“I really wouldn’t mind taking a thousand-year nap here.” Uma said, and found herself being tugged from the bed by Evie. “Hey, watch it, _Princess._”

The familiar nickname drew a smile from Evie. Uma glared at her, and pushed past her, walking out of the room to follow Mal and Celia. After a moment, Evie followed suit.

Their walk to Evie’s house was relatively quiet. There were some questions, mostly ones filled with awe from Celia about what something did, or was, or amazement of how different things were from the Isle, but for the most part, Evie was completely thankful Mal and Uma had kept quiet along their walk.

“I really hope they found Ben.” Mal finally said as they neared Evie’s house and Evie could hear the sadness and concern in Mal’s voice.

She had to pause for a second, because, oddly, Evie didn’t understand that feeling that Mal was having. Quite honestly, the feeling of _concern for Doug_ just hadn’t gotten to her, and she was struggling to find out why… she lik- _loved_ him… Shouldn’t she feel the same way as Mal did about Ben?

Uma pulled her from the thoughts, which Evie was so, _so_ thankful for. “Nice digs.”

“I got a really good deal.” Evie shrugged casually, because gloating and rubbing people’s faces in things wasn’t the sign of a beautiful girl and wouldn’t have won her a man’s heart – She had to remind herself that _that_ was her Mother’s thinking, and not her own.

Her first concern was Dizzy. Celia walked into the house first and found Dizzy and the boys on the sofa asleep. Dizzy in the middle of some bad dream, Evie was so scared she wouldn’t wake from. A thousand-year nap would never been good if all you did was have nightmares. She was stuck to her spot, guilt consuming her: if she had just taken Dizzy with her to the Isle, this wouldn’t have happened. Dizzy would be fine, but instead she had shirked her responsibility onto the girl and made her into a babysitter. She chewed her lip with the guilt as Celia covered over Dizzy with the throe from the back of the sofa, whispering sweet reassurances of everything being okay.

Evie really hoped everything would be.

_She lived to enjoy nights like these, once all of her studying was done, and mother left the house to visit some poor soul she claimed to be dating, Evie locked her bedroom door, in case mother returned early and tried to check in on her, and slipped out of her window all the same. _

_Making her way through the familiar brush of the woods, and toward the dock side of the Isle, Evie now tried her best to relish in the night life. There were market stalls lit up and bustling and Curl Up and Dye had a queue that snaked around the corner from people waiting their hair cuts. _

_Evie spared a small chuckle as she walked past the queue, glancing behind herself with a roll of her eyes. She should have seen where she was going, but she didn’t, and she felt her body smack into another body, heard a soft wince as that other body fell to the floor._

_Her smile quickly fell, apology on the tip of her tongue, but she knew it wasn’t how the Isle worked. There was a mess of a girl on the floor, scrambling to get to her feet, and Evie waited to see if there were a string of expletives she was about to be given._

_The girl, who looked about seven-years-old, dusted herself off, and looked at Evie apologetically. “I’m sorry!” She offered before Evie could speak, readjusting her glasses that were too big for her small face._

_Evie was stunned; she never heard someone other than herself or Harry (and he only did that around her) using their manners. She gulped, because she knew almost instantly that meant that the young girl was destined for a life of hell on this Isle. _

_“What are you doing out here so late?” Evie asked in a whisper, her concern massively increased towards the small girl._

_"Granny needed some more dye." The girl said, showing the bag to Evie. It looked heavy, too heavy for the thin girl that stood in front of her._

_"And she sent you outside at this time?" It had to be almost one in the morning now, but Evie didn't know why she had questioned it: this was the Isle, and villains didn't care about their children, or grandchildren in this case, or what time it was. If something had to be done, then it had to be done. _

_"It's nothing." The girl said, glancing behind herself toward the market place where a few burly men were manning their stalls, sneering at Evie and the young girl as they stood together._

_Evie instinctively put her hands on her hips and glared at the men looking in their direction. No way was she letting the girl walk back by herself, "I'm Evie, by the way. Let me help you with that." She said. _

_"Dizzy..." The girl confessed and moved the bag of dyes closer to herself protectively._

_"I promise you, I'm not here to steal hair dye." Evie chuckled and held her hand out._

_A few tentative moments crossed between them, before Dizzy passed the sack to Evie to carry._

_"Thanks." Dizzy muttered, and Evie couldn't help but smile. "I like your hair." Dizzy commented after a moment of quiet. _

_Evie grinned wider, loving a compliment, but was so happy even more from the sincerity and innocence behind Dizzy's words. "Oh, yeah?"_

_"Mhm." Dizzy nodded, looking Evie's dark locks over for a moment, "But I think it would be better with a brighter blue." She said, her hands in front of her face as she moved them from one side to the other in thought. "Yeah, definitely brighter."_

_A laugh left Evie's lips. She rolled her eyes as she carried the bag along the busy street where the line had curved from the hair salon. "Well, maybe one day I'll let you dye it." Evie said, playfully, not expecting the squeal of glee from Dizzy that followed._

_"Really?!" The girl exclaimed, and wrapped Evie in a tight hug._

_That stunned Evie for a moment, because hugs on the Isle really were fleeting, and the queue of villains next to them were looking at them in disgust. "Alright, better get this to your granny, she'll be waiting." Evie laughed as they got to the door. She passed the sack back to Dizzy, who whispered a hasty goodbye before disappearing into the salon._

A loud snoring took her attention, concerning her further, because she _definitely_ left Dizzy alone looking after the boys… who else would be here?

Uma headed toward her conservatory first, but Evie and Mal very quickly followed. Evie on high defences, because whomever it was, she definitely hadn’t invited in… And then she saw Doug on the floor, fast asleep like the rest of Auradon, and felt a wash of relief come over her because Dizzy hadn’t been left alone, Doug had come to the rescue.

Her heart swelled softly, and it was as if she forgot everything that was happening with Audrey. Her tunnel vision kicked in and she walked toward him.

“Uh, who’s the dude?” Uma asked, hanging back as she looked him over in disgust.

“Doug.” Evie said, walking to his side. “Doug.” She tried shaking his shoulder, but to no avail. “Wake up.” She tried again, “Wake up.”

“He’s spelled.” Uma’s words were like a sudden douse of cold water over the blue-haired girl. Evie snapped her head to look to Uma. “Is she not a fast learner?” And sure, it hurt for a split moment.

“She’s emotionally involved, okay?”

Evie looked back to Doug, because she didn’t think she could stand to see Uma’s reaction to those words, just knowing how, the girl who toyed with hearts back on the Isle, had somehow managed to toy with someone else’s here in Auradon, filled her with dread.

“Well, in that case, she should be able to wake him up.” The sigh her words were spoken with made Evie feel guilty for toying with Doug’s heart, and Harry’s, and all of those guys on the Isle (the ones her mother set her up with, not ones by her choice, she tried to remind herself, but it didn’t convince her any less.)

Evie finally dared a glance up to Mal and Uma, who were looking at her expectantly, like she could just lean down and kiss Doug right here in this moment, but it felt so wrong.

“True love’s kiss. Works every time.” Uma said, and she almost looked _happy_ which threw Evie for a moment… was she glad she had moved on from Harry? Were Uma and Harry…

She tried to forget her thoughts and where they were going. Looked to Mal’s concerned face and knew her best friend could see an inner-dilemma happening in that very small (it had begun to feel as though it was closing in around her) room.

“Well, we haven’t used the ‘L’ word yet.” Evie confessed, trying to throw Mal off of the scent of what the real problem was here. What if Evie didn’t love Doug? What if Doug didn’t love Evie? What if it didn’t work, and suddenly there was a new can of worms open in their friend group?

When Uma rolled her eyes, Evie was quite relieved it had worked to distract from their past. She tried to focus back on Doug, a hand on his head, one on his shoulder. “Can we be alone?” She asked, desperately trying to not show how at war she was with herself and her own thoughts.

Neither girl protested, and Evie had to remind herself to thank them for that. But she also thought they could have had the courtesy to close the door on their way out.

She gazed down at Doug for a moment longer, stuck in her thoughts.

_"Yer late." Came his accent as she approached the docks where he stood._

_Evie's expression was full of apologies, "Sorry, I ran into this girl an-"_

_"She didn't hurt ye, did she?" Harry asked, jumping in, making Evie roll her eyes._

_"No! No, she was only a kid." Evie explained, even though she was only thirteen herself. "She was struggling to carry some stuff."_

_"Ye know, I'm meant to help you in distress, not ye helpin' a young lass' with their distresses." He teased, taking a step closer to Evie._

_"You know I wouldn't leave her to struggle." Evie explained._

_Harry nodded, because he knew it all too well. "S'what I love about ye, Princess." He commented, neither thinking about the affectionate word he had just thrown around. _

_Evie walked to the edge of the dock, their usual meeting spot, and looked out over the water and the horizon beyond the boarder. Harry walked up behind her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "We should head inside, s'goin' te rain, ye know." He informed her, looking up at the storm clouds overhead. _

_She cast her brown eyes to the heavens, and saw that he was right, a dark, thick cloud loomed over the Isle making it drearier than normal. Evie huffed a small sigh. "Where're we going to go?"_

_"Well if ye want the surprise ruined..." Harry quipped, to which Evie put a hand over her mouth to stop any further questions. "Follow me." He instructed, taking her hand in his, he led her through the pirate town and down to a boat on the dock. "Shh, we've got te be quiet." He let her know, and she did exactly as he asked._

_They stood in front of a door just off of the deck. Harry opened it to reveal a small room with a meagre bed in one corner. In the middle of the space, he had his bedside table, with a candle in the centre, and two barrels from around the town as seats on either side. _

_"I know it isn't much." He informed her, instantly bashful._

_Evie's eyes lit up, a smile brightened her face, despite suddenly realising she was a little under dressed for this. "No, it's beautiful." She confessed to him. _

_"I guess you've probably had fancier lads take ye to much better spots on the Isle." Harry continued, rubbing the back of his neck nervously._

_Evie spun around to face him, taking his face in her hands. "Harry, I love it." She told him, looking straight into his eyes. _

_They were close again, too close. And, when Harry lent in to steal a kiss from her, Evie didn't pull away this time._

_A cough separated the two quickly. Evie and Harry looked behind them to where Uma was standing, a tray of food perched on her hand. "I was asked to bring food." She said, bluntly, and looked at the two in disgust. _

_A blush crept up Evie's cheeks as she looked to the floor beneath her feet. For a moment, she just wanted the sea to come and claim her as its own. _

Evie stood beside Doug, trying to remember the feelings she once had for him. The times they shared together: the first test she passed in Auradon, his fascination with the wand, too, the way he wouldn’t leave her side most of the day, and embraced her smart side… She knows she became complacent. Evie had worried so much about there being no prince in a castle for her like there was for Mal, that she settled for whatever she could get, because she heard her mother’s words in her head, telling her over and over, that she would never be good enough if she was smart. If she did anything other than cook, clean, sew, and satisfy a man, she would surely fail. She had always been someone else’s _thing _whether it was by her own choice, or by her mother’s – more often than not it was her mother’s, and so she almost didn’t understand _how _to function without a man at her side.

Doug was the first to show interest in her smarts, she thought, and he was head over heels in love with her, it had seemed obvious to her. Sure, she felt happy around him, and confident in new ways, but she never felt her heart skipping beats quite like when she saw Harry Hook standing in front of her on that bridge, his stupid smile on his face, hook clutched in his hand.

Evie visibly paled. She shook her head, the blue hair swishing with the motion, and made sure Harry was gone from her thoughts.

Doug. Doug who had convinced their teacher to give her a second chance on that test. Doug who brought picnics to their study breaks and was sweet enough to call them dates. Doug who introduced her to all of his friends in the first few days they were together as if he was so _proud_ of himself for being able to date her… **Doug**.

Evie bent down, locking her lips with his, and waited.

It was one of _many_ first kisses Evie had had. On the Isle there were a string of men she had found herself kissing, mother telling her she needed the practice. She had to date someone at all costs because she needed to know the needs of men and how to please them.

And yet, none of those kisses, not even the kiss she had with Harry, had felt like this one. This kiss was _desperate_ and full of anything but desire. It was pure _need_ because she didn’t want to feel embarrassment for not realising sooner that she hadn’t loved Doug. Full of desperation for needing it to work, to justify the last year of her life.

Evie realised she had her lips pressed to Doug’s for a moment too long and stepped away from him. Her pink lipstick left a small stain at the side of his mouth, that she wiped away in disappointment.

No matter how long she waited… Doug wasn’t waking up, and Evie knew that it had been all her own fault. Toying with hearts wasn’t all fun and games… It often just got yourself hurt in the process.

Her eyes filled with tears that were quickly spilled and began to accumulate at her chin. She wiped them away as quickly as they came, but more spilled over.

All she knew was that she was a stupid little girl who toyed with boy’s hearts… and even if those thoughts were her mother’s, Evie knew they were, she couldn’t shake them off at the moment in time, because she one-hundred percent believed them, too.


	5. Trapped

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's slight hurt!Evie in this flashback, but I wanted to get some of Uma being awkward and comforting Evie, so this happened. I'm trying to make it match up as best I can with the Isle of the Lost books but obviously I'm playing around with ages a little here since Harriett and Harry don't quite exist in the same time frame.

She was sat on the stool near her work station, hands covering her face as she sobbed as quietly as she could. Doug was fast asleep on the bench across the way, and she couldn’t even bare to look in his direction. Evie knew she had to get a grip of herself. They had bigger fish to fry, and now, Dizzy and the rest of Auradon were her priorities.

A loud slam shook the glass of her conservatory windows, followed by another, then another. Evie was confused as the room became darker, and darker. She looked up from her hands to see that there were boards all around the room blocking off the windows, and namely the door to the conservatory.

“Audrey…” She sighed out, and hastily stood, gathering herself and wiping beneath her eyes, praying her waterproof mascara – something she had _really_ loved about Auradon – had worked.

More slams shook the house and echoed loudly. Evie made her way toward the kitchen where she could hear Celia shouting. “We’re trapped!”

She met up at Mal and Uma’s side, Doug-less and with watery eyes. “Are you guys okay? What’s going on?” _Stupid question_, she thought. Clearly Audrey had been trying to scare them.

Mal stepped forward, her hands outstretched. “You’ve caused my friends pain and fear. We’ve had enough, now disappear!” Mal commanded, and yet nothing happened.

Evie gulped… she really, really didn’t enjoy being trapped.

_There were butterflies in the pit of her stomach, a sense of nervousness as she walked towards the dock where Harry stood. Tonight, was going to be different, they weren’t going to just hang out together like they had for the past few years, or with Uma and Gil even. No, he had told her the whole crew were going to have a get together, which was a regular occurrence for them, and Harry had been delighted to ask Evie along to meet his make-shift family._

_Of course, the thought of it now, as she looked at Harry staring at her with dazed eyes, filled her with dread of meeting them. Family was never a good thing… Evie hadn’t had family that had ever been good to her in the sixteen-years she had been alive._

_“They’re gonna love ye, Princess.” Harry told her as she expressed her concerns to him. He pressed a kiss to her temple and lead her down through the docks onto a ship with a large octopus flag waving in the air. “The Lost Revenge… This is Uma’s pride an’ joy.” He let her know, Evie thought the small talk was a distraction, but knew it wasn’t working. Harry noticed it, too. Stopping her and taking her hand in his. “Stop worrying, love. It’ll be alright.”_

_She wasn’t given more time to think. One of the large wooden doors creaked open, and out walked Bonny who greeted Harry with words so quick Evie almost forgot she was listening to a conversation and not a spell._

_Harry walked into the room with Bonny, and tugged Evie behind him. It was the most bashful he had ever seen her, and he knew it was something he found so endearing about her._

_“Ah! ‘arry!” A burly boy with dark hair stepped up toward Harry with a grin. Then, noticing Evie, he gave her a look that was predatory, and almost sent a shiver down her spine… Evie thought that maybe it was just a pirate thing, as it reminded her of the first time, she had met Captain Hook. “An’ who’s the girl?” He asked, rolling his tongue with certain sounds._

_“She’s my-” Harry cut himself short. Keeping himself in check as emotions weren’t welcome on the Isle. “Evie. This is Evie.”_

_“Your Evie, eh? Pleasure.” He smirked._

_Harry casually shoved his elbow into the boy’s chest, making him take a step away from Evie, which she was grateful for. “This is Jonas.” Harry began, and then did the rounds of the room._

_Evie wasn’t the best with names. She knew there must have been around fifteen kids here, all chatting, singing, and joking with one another. Uma was talking with Desiree and Bonny, while there was Gil standing with Jonas, Gonzo, and some other boys she couldn’t recall the names of. Harry saw her awkwardly looking around and twiddling her thumbs and sighed before walking over to her side._

_“Yer don’t have te be nervous. They like ye.” Harry informed her, but it did little to reassure her fears._

_Evie instead nodded, “No, I know, it’s just… late.” She said, and Harry rolled his eyes even more. He knew the fear she had about the night life on the Isle. He had seen the villains that came out at that hour and couldn’t say he liked it much better either._

_“Me an’ Gil are gonna pick up some food.” He informed her, but knowing she wasn’t wanting to be wandering the docks at this time either, he decided it was best to not invite her along for the walk. “I’ll be ten minutes, tops.” _

_Evie rolled her eyes, because she knew in Harry’s world that was around twenty or thirty. “What about…” Evie trailed off, trying to not show that she was dubious about staying here with so many unfamiliar people._

_“Uma’s right there. She’s the captain. She won’t let them do anythin’.” It wasn’t the reassurance she needed, but Harry didn’t realise that. “Ten minutes.” He said again and pressed his lips to her temple._

_He grabbed his jacket and his sword on his way out of the room, giving her a nod of his head on his way out._

_At first Uma had glanced over at her, it was hard not to when Evie was twiddling her thumbs whilst standing in the middle of the room, but soon enough, the boys walked over to her and began to talk to her while Harry was gone. At least, Evie tried to think they were being friendly. They asked her questions, a lot of them quite personal, but being the princess, she was, Evie tried not to take offence, instead just answering their curiosities or avoiding anything that made her blush at the thought._

_But then it got a lot louder, and the pirates were getting more boisterous with one another. Evie didn't like that at all. Some of the guys began singing what Evie guessed was a sea shanty, and some began bickering with each other. The noise was almost overwhelming for her, only really used to her quiet castle, Evie couldn’t take it any longer. Suddenly the room felt too small, and her head and lungs were closing in, and she couldn’t breathe in the room that smelt mostly of drink and sweat. Evie bolted from the room, and over toward the side of Uma’s ship. She knew it was late, and she shouldn’t be in the open, but there shouldn’t be trespassers on Uma’s ship, she hoped._

_Evie clung to the wooden side of the ship, watching the water lap at the boat mesmerizingly, and focused predominantly on catching her breath. She was glad, when after a few moments, Evie could take in the salty air without gasping or panicking. She began to gather herself, stilling her shaky hands and fixing her hair before deciding it was time to return to the room in which the pirates were partying._

_She should have been paying more attention, given she was on the deck in the open._

_A laugh came from behind her that startled her and made her jump. She turned around to face a girl, who was definitely a few years older than them, along with two familiar faces from her new school class: the Gaston twins. The girl, she noted, looked strikingly similar to Harry…_

_“You must be Evie.” The girl said, and Evie struggled to tell if it was friendly or not. “I’m Harriet, Harry’s older sister.”_

_Sister… That was it, Evie recalled him mentioning her and CJ, too, but he shook it off quickly, like he didn’t want her to know too much about them or his family life._

_“Nice to meet you.” Evie said after a moment, offering a smile._

_“You know, my dad’s not too happy about you.” Harriet informed Evie, making the girl’s smile drop… she thought she had made a good impression on Captain Hook when they had first met those years ago, but she hadn’t seen him since, thankfully. “He says he doesn’t want Harry hanging around with some posh princess who doesn’t know her bow from her stern.” Harriet cracked her fingers._

_Evie gulped, because Harry had never mentioned this to her, and suddenly she felt like nothing more than a disappointment._

_“And the others are talking too… you’re making him soft… and we can’t have that.” Harriet had a menacing look on her face, and now the Gaston twins who stood either side of her also had grins. They all collectively walked closer to Evie, who became very aware that her back was pressed up against the side of the ship and had nowhere to run._

_“Little princesses like you don’t belong in this part of town, do you understand me?” Harriet asked, and closed the little space that was left between them. She grabbed a handful of Evie’s blue hair and tugged on it so harshly that Evie winced and kept her head at an odd angle to ease the pain._

_It couldn’t have been more than fifteen minutes, Uma noted, as she finished her conversation with Desiree and Bonny, then glanced around the room. She had looked over and seen Evie laughing and talking with the boys before, but now she couldn’t find the blue-haired girl anywhere in sight. Her blood ran cold._

_“Where’d Evie go?” Uma asked as she walked over interrupting Gonzo and Jonas as they sang loudly and rocked side to side, their arms around each other’s shoulders._

_“She went outside.” Gonzo informed her, as stupid as he was, not seeing what Uma’s big problem was._

_He, instead, returned to his singing._

_Uma wasn’t about saving damsels in distress, but she also knew if she didn’t, Harry would have her hind. She rushed from the room onto the ship’s deck and scanned around for Evie. There were a few pirates meandering around the docks around them, but her ship was bare, no one but her was out on the open deck._

_“Shit.” Uma cursed. Maybe Evie had run home? Or Harry had returned and swooped Evie away for some weird make-out session. Uma hoped it was one of those two, but also expected the worst._

_She rushed around the deck of her ship, searching every known hiding spot, when she heard it. A small sob coming from a closet at the end of the ship. How Evie had gotten there, Uma didn’t know, but she rushed over and went to pull the door open, when she realised it was locked… Then she felt nothing but fury, because the key was firmly on the outside, and Evie hadn’t walked herself in here _and_ managed to lock it, so she knew someone else had done it to her._

_She quickly unlocked and opened the door, letting the light flood inside from the moon, and saw Evie in a crumpled ball, her eyes tear stained, and her make-up ruined. There was a cut on her cheek, bruises on her neck, and her eye was beginning to swell._

_Uma knew when Harry found out she was as good as done for._

_“Evie.” Uma said, and the girl flinched and whimpered away. “It’s only me.” Uma said, trying to be calming. _

_“Oh, my Goblins…” Bonny said as she looked over Uma’s shoulder, Uma nearly jumped because she hadn’t known she was there but was suddenly thankful._

_“Grab a lantern for me.” Uma ordered, and Bonny said nothing more but ran to take one from one of the rooms aboard the ship. _

_She returned a moment later with it lit and passed it to Uma who took the key from the door and tucked it into her corset quickly. “When Harry gets here, send him to us.” Uma ordered, Bonny nodded, and walked back toward the party._

_Uma put the lantern down in one of the corners of the room and pulled the door closed behind them. Evie was still crying, but quietly, and Uma sat on the wooden ground beside her, not too sure what to do with herself… she wasn’t used to crying, especially princesses who were crying. _

_“Evie?” She asked again, trying to survey the girl over and make a note of all of her injuries. “Evie, who did this?” Uma asked, but got herself no answer._

_She reached a hand out, and tentatively settled it on Evie’s head, stroking her hair in a soothing motion, “You’re okay. It’s going to be okay.” Uma silently promised that, when she knew who it was, they’d never walk again._

_With the small moment of comfort, Evie found herself officially allowed to break down, and so she did. She put her head onto Uma’s lap, and sobbed harder than she had ever done before…_

_This was meant to be her sanctuary… and now it had been broken._

By the time she realised she was still in the kitchen of her home, the boards up on the windows and doors around her, she glanced over and passed Celia a reassuring look, casting her attention back to Mal as she and Uma took hands and repeated the spell together this time.

“You’ve caused our friends pain and fear. We’ve had enough, now disappear!”

A split moment of silence…

Then, as quickly as they had come, they had gone, dropping from where they had blocked with ease, letting the light slip back into the room and cast the sunlight back into her home.

Evie was so relieved. “You did it.” She said, eyes locked firmly on the front door, eying up sweet, sweet freedom thanks to feeling so claustrophobic a moment prior.

Uma looked at her, but if she saw the redness beneath her eyes, or any tear marks, she didn’t comment.

“Together.” Evie added, proud of both Mal and Uma for setting their differences aside for the good of Auradon. She was so, so proud of what they could do when they were together. “This is what I’ve been talking about.” Her voice was hoarse from the tears, but neither of her friends mentioned it.

“I guess my shell likes you.” Uma joked softly, and Mal laughed making Evie smile for the first time since she had realised her and Doug weren’t meant to be together. “Why don’t you hold onto that?” Uma said, taking the ember from her necklace, she put it in Mal’s palm. The pair fist bumping a moment later.

Celia ran toward the door, Evie watched her carefully, not wanting the girl to find herself in trouble again. She turned around to face the three girls, a grin on her face. “Hey, it’s your bae.” The girl announced, and Mal was very quick to move toward the door.

Evie’s smile faltered. Not only could she not wake up Doug, but now Ben, Jay, Carlos, Gil and _Harry_ of all people were back. Her heart did that thing where it skipped a beat again… and this time, she tried to figure out exactly what that meant.

She didn’t miss the way, on exiting the house and being reunited with the boys, that Harry looked at Uma and hugged her. Nor did Evie miss the bashful look Uma gave him shortly following it.

They were definitely a thing, she convinced herself.

And suddenly, her day got a _whole_ lot worse.


	6. Lied To

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is sort of the last Harry/Evie flashback on the Isle, basically it's the reason as to why they never spoke again (or why Evie chose to keep her distance from Harry) and Evie then moved onto Mal, Jay and Carlos to stick to the canon story of The Isle of the Lost book and then the movies.

While the sun began to set over Auradon, they all tried to think of a plan, and a very quick one at that. Jane had gone to find her mother alongside Gil, which seemed like a safe bet, whilst the remainder all gathered in Evie’s house, trying to ignore the distant snores from Doug, or the whimpers from Dizzy. It wasn’t easy, especially for Evie who was still dealing with the realisation that her and Doug weren’t true love, but they managed to get through a plan of how they could pass through the forest, and hopefully get to the cottage in time to check it out.

They’d made the trip through the forest just as the sky turned to a tinged red and orange colour, something the core four had gotten used to now, but Harry and Celia were looking at the sky as if there were a magic spell cast over it.

“Wow,” Celia commented, “That’s…” She couldn’t think of the words, and felt Evie’s hand on her back, leading her on further through the thicket of the trees.

Evie was watching Harry’s expression, seeing the way his eyes reflected the marvellous colours, she didn’t see where she was going, and missed the protruding root of one of the nearby trees poking out from the ground. Evie almost walked right into it.

“Watch it.” Celia said, stopping abruptly to make Evie stop too.

When the girl spoke, Evie looked down, wide eyed, and very quickly lost her own smile as she realised what had almost happened. Harry was also looking at her, and he seemed amused more than anything, but the gentleman he was didn’t comment on it. If it had been anyone else, Evie was sure, he’d have rubbed their face in it completely.

Celia coughed, breaking both of them from their moment of looking at each other. “We’ve got a mission.” She whispered loudly to the two of them, then rolled her eyes, “You two love birds can ogle each other later.” Evie’s cheeks turned red, and her eyes found the ground so quickly so she didn’t see if anyone else had heard Celia, she heard Uma give a faint chuckle, but knew it could have been in response to anything… When Evie looked back up, everyone was a few steps ahead of her again, including Harry, and the ran a little to keep up with them.

By the time they reached fairy cottage, she was right behind Mal and Ben. Ben busted the door down, and Mal went through behind him. It was empty, for the most part. Quaint, really, Evie had to note. The three-fairy Godmother’s had definitely made it homely, but it was still bare: of a lot of furniture and definitely, of any Audrey’s they were searching for.

Everyone began searching the house, Jay upstairs, the boys in different corners, for any sign or clues, but all came up empty handed.

A knock on one of the doors made Evie jump, and turn quickly, being on her toes about anything that may turn them to stone or put them to sleep.

All of the group cautiously approached the closet, and Ben glanced inside before quickly opening it.

_Uma sat there uncomfortably, with a sobbing wreck in her lap, uselessly running her hand through Evie’s hair as gently as she could, noticing the way she had winced if she accidentally tugged on a knot, and knew whoever had done this had done a real number on her. _

_“Evie, I really need to know who did this to you…” Uma practically begged, which was a rare thing to see, but Evie couldn’t appreciate it at the moment. _

_Her body was hurting, and she was doing her ribs no favours with her crying. _

_Footsteps approached the door, which put Uma on edge. She awkwardly pulled her sword out, ready to defend Evie if she needed to._

_The door opened, and there he stood._

_“Oh, Harry.” Uma breathed out a sigh of relief, a concerned look on her face._

_Harry looked mortified as he looked down at his crying mess of a girlfriend… because that was what she was to him… his girlfriend. And suddenly, all he wanted to do was maim every pirate in the land to get the name of who did this to his Evie._

_He fell to his knees, devastated above anything else, pushing some of Evie’s hair out of her face. It calmed her sobbing down a little._

_“What…” He couldn’t even ask, he saw the blood on Evie’s cheek, and the swollen eye, and crumpled into himself._

_“I’m so sorry,” Uma apologised, “She left, and I didn’t see her go, when I found her, she was locked in here, looking like this.” Uma explained to him. “I didn’t see anyone around.” There was a lump in her throat, awaiting whatever punishment Harry would do to her for not protecting Evie like he had asked._

_“S’not her fault.” Evie said startling them both: they almost forgot she was there. _

_“Who’s was it, love?” Harry whispered to her, a pleading tone to his voice. _

_Evie didn’t answer, and Uma could only shake her head toward him. _

_“I’ll give you two…” Uma started, and Evie took the hint to sit up, but Uma’s position was soon replaced by Harry, who hugged her into his side. _

_“Oh, Evie.” He said, pressing a kiss into her hair. _

_Uma opened the door, and closed it wordlessly behind herself, on a mission now to question every person around them in order to know who had done this. _

_“We should get ye cleaned up.” Harry softly spoke to her, but when Evie shook her head, he settled for just rocking her gently in his arms._

_So many thoughts ran through his head, every person he had seen around the docks this evening… every person he hadn’t_ seen_, what motive they could have, and why… but it seemed to pale in comparison to his concern for her._

_He must have been thinking for a while, because when he next glanced down to Evie, he realised she was fast asleep in his arms, and settled with a small sigh, resounding that it was best not to move her or wake her up; her body needed the time to heel, he sat there and made sure she was as comfortable as possible. _

_Harry didn’t know when his own eyes began to close as he listened to the sound of her breathing. But he knew when Uma returned to the small closet, with a tattered blanket and pillow for him. Silently passing them over, understanding too that it was best to not move Evie._

_She didn’t speak a word as Harry took the pillow and began to lay Evie’s head mostly down on it, along with his own almost half on it. Uma laying the blanket over them._

_“Thanks.” He muttered, but if Uma heard, her only reply was closing the door behind herself again. _

Inside was Chad Charming, one of Evie’s least favourite people in Auradon. Ever since he tried to get her in trouble for using her magic mirror, she couldn’t help but not trust him. Sure, he was dumb and liked Audrey way too much, probably how he ended up in this situation right now, but Evie still struggled to forgive him for what he had done.

That was until he saw them, with no Audrey, and the door wide open behind them, and sensed an overwhelming urge of freedom.

“She’s gone, huh?” He asked, clinging to Ben like he was a lifeline.

Evie took pity, Audrey had done a number on Chad, and no one deserved that.

“The door is open. I’m free. Freedom!” And, he was off, running for his dear life. Instantly, Evie knew she had forgiven him.

Harry laughed, definitely not used to grown men being brought down in such a manner. But no one chose to acknowledge it. Auradon and the Isle were two different places, and Harry Hook would learn Auradon’s ways soon enough.

Everyone left the cottage, leaving her and Harry to go last. Evie shot him a slight glare.

“What?” He asked, arms stretched on either side of himself.

Evie decided it was best not to grace him with an answer. She left the small cottage just before he did, and walked behind Mal and Uma, watching them triumphantly as the pair fist bumped one another. They were working together, and Evie couldn’t be prouder.

Ben had his arm around Mal’s shoulder, “You know, someday, you’re gonna have to tell me how you guys all got teamed up.”

“Actually, Mal promised to let all the kids off the Isle once this is over.” Evie informed Ben.

“Mal?” Ben asked his fiancé.

Suddenly, Evie could feel the tension. “I have to tell you guys something.” Mal started, and Evie knew that was never a good thing. “Um, I lied to you. The kids won’t be coming off the Isle.”

It felt as if the air had been sucked out of the planet. Evie couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“What do you mean?”

“The program is shut down. And the barrier… will be closed for good.”

Evie couldn’t look anywhere but at Mal, even when Harry made a frustrated noise behind her, or when Jay sounded genuinely upset.

“For Auradon’s safety.” Ben added in.

Evie looked at him now, tuning out the words from Uma as she couldn’t help but send Ben a glare. The feeling of betrayal was rife. She was supposed to be his advisor on bringing the kids over from the Isle. They were working together, and he hadn’t once tried to let her know. She looked to her friends, to Celia, and to Uma and Harry, knowing they all felt the same way. Surely, this was something they could have decided together…

“You know what? I actually thought you were brave.” Celia stepped up to Mal, and for the first time today, Evie didn’t want to hold the girl back or try to teach her the Auradon ways, “You’re nothing but a chicken. Too scared to tell me I was never gonna see my dad again.”

Celia took something from Mal, Evie realised it was the ember a moment too late. It touched the water and sparked, fizzing out almost instantly.

“Celia!” She called after the girl, who ran off into the forest, but Mal was fussing over the ember as if that was the most important thing.

Evie couldn’t even be upset when Uma and Harry walked off too, leaving the five of them plus Dude, there in their own mess… one Evie hadn’t created, but was stuck at the centre of now.

“Evie…” Mal started, “I’m so sorry. I’m sorry, I just… I thought that… I was afraid to tell you. I thought I was gonna lose my best friend. But I had to do something. I had to protect Auradon.” Mal sounded hurt, she sounded as if she would break down at any moment.

Evie couldn’t find a moment to care. Her own chest was heavy and aching. She had never wanted to see her mother again, but all those kids they had seen and spoke too, all those applications they had taken… The children they promised to save, and the children in Auradon they told could see their parents whenever they liked… Her whole body hurt for them. She felt betrayed _for them_. And she couldn’t shake that feeling.

“Closing the barrier was your idea?” She asked, hurt.

“I did it for us. I did it for our life that we have here now.” Mal tried to justify it, but it fell on broken ears.

“For _our_ life? What about the kids that we left behind on that island? The kids that we promised? We were their only hope. I thought you were gonna stand up for the V.K.’s. But instead, you lied to them… And you lied to Jay. And you lied to Carlos. And you lied to me. We’re your family.” Evie shook her head, unable to keep her emotions at bay any longer.

Evie knew she had always been right… family was _never_ a good thing.

“Evie…” Mal tried to plead, but Evie turned and walked back to her friends’ sides. “Evie, come on. I had no choice.”

Evie stood there, watching Carlos bend down to Dude, and the way Jay’s eyes were dulled with his upset. She looked anywhere but towards Mal because she knew she couldn’t deal with that.

The hurt in her heart was too big.

Her stomach ached. Her head throbbed.

And then, she began to feel a new sensation. Her whole body was tingling and immobile. Her legs and feet first, working up towards her head.

She knew she was turning to stone, and, for a short moment, knowing the barrier was shut forever, and suddenly her whole purpose of being here in Auradon was shattered… Evie decided that she didn’t mind the feeling quite so much.

She almost welcomed it, in fact.

_When she awoke the next morning to the sound of Harry’s snores, it was with a definite black eye and a blood-crusted cheek. Her ribcage ached, she had a tender scalp, and a sore rib from one of the cheap shots one of the Gaston twins had taken at her. _

_She didn’t know what time it was exactly, but knew it was during the day, because faint sunlight was creeping underneath the gap of the door. _

_Evie peeled herself away from Harry, and stood to her feet, surprised that he was a heavy sleeper. She quietly, and painfully, left the closet of the ship, out onto the deck that was empty. Uma’s crew were up on the dock, holding poor villagers to knifepoint, and Evie knew it was all for her benefit. She felt so guilty for it, but didn’t want to break Harry or Gil’s hearts at them knowing it was their own family that had hurt her…_

_Evie always knew family was a bad thing._

_She hoped no one noticed her as she walked through the docks and into the bazar, ignoring any whispers or stares, she headed straight into the forest, toward her castle of a home._

_Her mother was going to freak… her beautiful daughter’s face had been destroyed, and that was all that mattered to Grimhilde._

_Evie considered it the earth’s small victory when she got there, that Grimhilde was nowhere to be found. She made her way straight to her bedroom, locked the door behind herself, and promised to not leave her room until she was beautiful again._

_Even when, that evening, the sound of rocks hit her window._

_Or when she heard Harry downstairs at her front door, being yelled at by Grimhilde._

_Not even surprised when Harry told her mother what had happened to Evie and that he wanted to make sure she was okay, he was sent away, and Grimhilde didn’t even bother to check in on her._

_A week later, Evie left her room, her eye less swollen, bruises faded, but her rib still tender. She was covered in the appropriate amount of make-up, and dressed to impress as always, with her backpack full of her school books._

_Her mother glanced up from her breakfast as Evie grabbed a stale and browning banana to eat on her walk, “Good choice locking yourself away, darling.” She praised Evie, with a smile that actually looked genuine. “From what I heard, you looked a complete mess. At least it’s gone now.”_

_Evie nodded, not knowing what else to say. She turned toward the door and began making her way out of the door when her mother called to her again. _

_“And don’t think about seeing that pirate boy, again. He’s clearly just bad news for you.”_

_Evie had to gulp at that… because she knew, for once, mother was right._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks once again for the feedback on this story, I really appreciate it and it's so lovely to see so many of you supporting this ship too.


	7. Returning

When they came out of stone form, Evie felt her whole body overwhelmed by pins and needles. She didn’t know what had happened for a split moment, just relieved to be back once again, Evie saw the rest of the guys looking stunned by the effects of the curse, too.

“You good?” She walked to Carlos and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Yeah.” He answered but looked just as confused as Evie had looked.

They made their way through the woods toward Auradon Prep. The memories of their talk with Mal before they had turned to stone ever present in their minds… But they knew whatever had happened, Audrey’s spell must have diminished, and so something good must have happened whilst they were out of it.

Out the front of the school, Harry Hook sat perched on the edge of the wall, contemplatively. He looked up when he heard footsteps approaching him.

“They’re in Audrey’s room. S’not lookin’ good.” He informed them, cryptically. No one knew what had happened, or who it had been bad for. Evie took off running, followed by her friends and Ben.

When she got to the doorway of the room, she saw Audrey asleep in her bed, Mal sat at the bedside, tears in her eyes, and knew whatever it was, Audrey didn’t look well at all.

Evie made her way to a chair on the other side of Audrey’s bed, and took a seat at it, looking her over with that scrutinizing eye she had had trained into her by her mother.

She couldn’t tell a lot but could see her slow breathing and paling face wasn’t a great sign.

Evie sighed, “She’s slipping away.”

“There’s only one person in the world who might be able to do something about this, and that’s Hades.” Mal informed the room, which was full of people, and yet so silent at the same time.

Harry had followed them up and now lounged on the sofa, Jay looked at Audrey’s photos on the mantel, Carlos sat in a chair, and Celia was on the window bay whilst Ben and Uma stood at the end of the bed, unsure of what to do.

“Hades?” Ben spoke up. “He wouldn’t do it. I wouldn’t risk it.”

Evie eyed Mal cautiously. Their biggest kept secret. One she knew about Mal but no one else did, and she swore to never tell anyone. “Actually, he might do it for me.” Mal said, and Evie bit her lip tentatively, knowing what was about to come next, “He’s my father.”

Evie watched their reactions. Carlos and Jay looked stunned, Celia wasn’t surprised, which made her believe she found out when she and Mal retrieved the ember from Hades, while Uma looked to not surprised at all, as if this was a normal island occurrence… it was, who else would their parents be but two villains?

“Okay. Well, I’ll have to send guards to get him.” Ben said, he looked uncomfortable and terrified.

“Maybe I can hitch a ride.” Uma spoke up for the first time in a while, making them all look to her. “The Isle is my home. Someone needs to be there to protect it.”

Evie felt her throat tighten again, because she knew, if Uma went, then Harry went too. She realised that she had lost Doug and Harry all in the same day.

He stood up, and put his hands-on Uma’s shoulders, “Well, then, you will need your first mate.”

“The Isle will be in very good hands.” Mal informed them, and Evie had to agree with that.

Evie looked to Audrey, hiding any upset that may be visible on her face, taking in the fact her breathing was still shallow, and her face, seemingly a shade paler than before. Things really weren’t good.

“Can I go to?” Celia spoke, and Evie felt her heart just about shatter into a million pieces at those words. “I wish I could be in both places.”

They’d messed up. They were here to save other V.K.’s, and because of Ben and Mal… they were losing them instead. She felt a mental war with herself because she knew it would mean losing her Dizzy, too. How could she not? The girl loved her Granny, even if Lady Tremaine was an evil witch at times.

“I really think that Evie was right. And… I do think that we could’ve been friends.” Mal stood from her chair, but Evie kept her teary eyes trained on Audrey. “And I’m really sorry that I lied to all of you guys. You deserved so much better than that.”

“You were just trying to do the right thing.” Jay spoke, and Evie felt herself blink away any tears that were going to fall.

“Yeah.” Uma agreed.

“I get it.” Evie finally spoke, voice hoarse and her eyes red.

Mal gave her a slight smile, but Evie looked down to Audrey. She understood, but she still didn’t agree.

After a moment, where Ben crossed the room to hug Mal, and Celia settled herself back on the window seat, Evie pulled her phone from her pocket, and left the room. She walked down the staircase and back out into the open grass on the front of Auradon prep, welcoming the cool late-night air.

She didn’t know if Dizzy was awake, and a motherly part of her sort of hoped she wasn’t, but also knew she had to have this conversation. She sat herself on the bottom step and rang the familiar number. It rang a couple of times in which Evie almost hung up, but then the familiar voice of Dizzy came down the line.

“Evie? Hey!” She was chirpy as ever, and it broke her heart all the more.

“Hi-” She began, but her throat was so hoarse she had to cough. “Hey, Dizz. You okay?”

“Yeah, did you manage to fix whatever happened to Mal?” Dizzy asked, and Evie suddenly remembered that a lot of things had happened while the young girl was asleep.

“Yeah, we did… but something else has come up, Dizz.” She sighed down the phone.

_She couldn’t bring herself to visit him, even though it hurt her so much. Evie avoided the docks no matter what, tried to not speak to Gil while they were at Dragon Hall, and absolutely never went near the Gaston twins again. Of course, Harry found out eventually. He heard Harriet gloating one night to his father about how she was the one who saved the family while scaring the ‘little princess’ away, and so he tried his best to fix it._

_It didn’t work when he began leaving handcrafted presents on their doorstep: Grimhilde threw them away without a care._

_It didn’t work when Harriet showed up to school with her own black eye, and the Gaston twins with split lips and broken noses._

_It didn’t work when he actually forced himself to show up to school, it was the first time he had been there in years, just so he could see her and apologise._

_For all he knew, he was being completely ghosted, and that hurt._

_Uma shrugged it off and tried to raise his spirits with many pirate activities._

_Evie fell into a new crowd, with her old enemy Mal, the thief of the Isle, Jay, and Cruella’s lap dog, Carlos, but even then, she wouldn’t speak to him. _

_Harry Hook had to just watch on with sadness in his eyes as she ignored his existence and that was what truly hurt him._

_So, he made a promise. One to take vengeance and make her hurt as much as he did. He began to torment Mal, Carlos, and Jay, making enemies of the whole group. He showed up to Curl Up and Dye on a nightly basis to steal whatever money was made from Dizzy, and he found himself finding a new way of living._

_This one was one his father was proud of, so Harry Hook couldn’t complain._

“Like, never, never?” Dizzy asked, and Evie knew the girl was crying with the dilemma she had been given.

Evie was crying too, almost a complete wreck against the beautiful night sky of Auradon. “Never, Dizz. But Celia is going home tomorrow, you’re more than free to go with her and return to your Granny.” Evie offered, her own heart aching.

“But, then I’d never see you again…” Dizzy couldn’t hold it any more, she cried down the phone, and Evie blinked her own tears falling over the edges of her eyes.

“You can have a think on it, Dizz. You don’t have to decide right now.” Evie told her, sniffling her nose and trying to compose herself. “But if you want to go back, it’ll be tomorrow morning.”

There wasn’t an answer on the phone. Evie didn’t know what had happened, until she heard a different voice on the line. “Evie?” It was Doug.

“Doug.” She breathed out.

“Oh, Evie. What’s going on?” He asked, in that caring way that he did where all that mattered was her and nothing else in the world. “Dizzy’s so upset.” He added.

“Mal’s closing the barrier, forever.” Evie informed him. “If she wants to stay with her Granny…” Her voice cracked, and the rest of the words wouldn’t come out.

Doug, ever understanding, nodded even if she couldn't see it, “Evie, I get it. Look, you do what you need to do there. I’ll talk with Dizzy. The boys are already asleep.”

She felt ten times worse. Here Doug was, picking up all of their pieces once again without caring for himself, and she couldn’t even do one selfless act to wake him up.

“Just trust me.” He said again. “I love you.”

Before she realised what Doug had said, she muttered out a quiet, “Thanks.” And hung up the phone.

Evie crumpled into herself, drawing her knees up to her chest, she sobbed into them fruitlessly.

She jumped when she felt a hand on her back. Didn’t look up when someone sat next to her and pulled her into them. It wasn’t until she smelt something salty and familiar that she realised… it wasn’t Mal, or Jay, or Carlos… It wasn’t even Ben.

She cast her watery eyes up, and met his eyes, heavy with eyeliner more so than he used to do. “Harry.”

“What’s a pretty girl like ye doin’ out ‘ere?” He asked a small smile on his face. Evie gave a watery smile at the memories, too, knowing it was the first thing he ever said to her, it was so familiar and comforting.

Evie held on tightly to him and cried harder than she had in such a long time.

She cried for all of the V.K.’s that would never make it off the Isle.

She cried for poor Celia who would never experience Auradon.

She cried for losing _her_ Dizzy.

She cried for once again loosing Harry and Uma.

And she cried, because she knew that whatever she did, things with Doug would never be the same again.

Harry just held her, like he used to.

Embracing the familiarity.

Enjoying the feeling of having her back with him.

Enjoying the knowledge that his father and sister would be furious.

Revelling in the fact that Uma, and Celia, were so observant and right about him loving her.

When Evie’s cries had all but turned into rough breaths, he whispered faintly toward the night sky, “Ye know, all that cryin’ s’gonna ruin ye make-up.” He pointed out in a teasing manner. Evie, for the first time in a very long time, laughed. Genuinely, and throatily. Not a care to her laughter lines or her appearance.

Gods had she missed him.

She sat up and looked at him for a moment, their eyes interlocked.

And, without second thought from either of them, they kissed.

Passionately, and deeply, because they’d been reunited at long last.

Wantonly and delicately, because they knew it was the last kiss they’d ever share before he left for the Isle once and for all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to take a moment to thank every one of you who has commented, bookmarked, given kudos or has read this story. It's so nice to see so many people enjoying it as much as I have enjoyed writing it.


	8. Leaving Forever

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long! It's been my birthday and we've had some family stuff, but it's all settled now.   
This chapter contains mention of child abuse for anyone who wants to skip it and purely platonic kissing of imperfections.  
The flashback is a little older than our last one, but I thought we needed some Harry in this chapter somewhere.

Harry knew Uma had seen them the night before on the steps. She didn’t say anything but had this knowing look in her eyes and a smirk on her face as they waited outside of Auradon Prep the following afternoon.

“What?” He asked, practically fed up of the little looks she was giving him.

“You know, you don’t have to come with me.” Uma informed him, but Harry had made his mind up already.

He shot her an incredulous look, almost offended. “Ye sick an’ tired of me?” He quipped, but Uma was being serious with him.

“Your happy ending is here, Harry… Take it.” Uma encouraged, glancing behind herself to where Celia was walking and chatting with Evie, excited to see her father, but being filled in on the things she would miss in Auradon, curious about this other land she would soon be leaving.

Harry looked, too, seeing Evie genuinely chatting and happy made his stomach flip, but he couldn’t leave Uma behind… they’d stuck together since they were kids.

“If she really wanted te, she’d come back wi’ me.” He said, flippantly.

Uma had to roll her eyes, because both of them were as stubborn as one another, and it would end up breaking their hearts once again.

Doug walked through the bushes with Dizzy at his side and the twins, making a beeline towards Evie and her group of friends.

“Dizzy.” Evie said, and she was worried for a moment that the girl had changed her mind on staying here in Auradon.

“I just came to say bye to Celia.” Dizzy said, quashing Evie’s fears.

Doug walked toward Evie, and quickly kissed her on the cheek before saying something Harry didn’t manage to hear.

“’Sides, she’s got a happy endin’ ‘ere.” He informed Uma, who shot him a look of, ‘are you completely stupid?’

It was too late to debate it. The car pulled up in front of the school, and soon enough, Celia had gotten inside along with Gil and Uma. Harry lingered, giving a small sigh before clambering in after his friends.

Whatever they shared last night had to be a mistake, and he knew it. They slipped into their old ways, but Evie was happy in Auradon and she was happy with Doug…

The car pulled off, and he saw her, standing with Doug, his arm around her waist as she smiled and waved the car off alongside Dizzy… Her smile seemed so forced that it hurt him, but he chose not to dwell on it. Instead, he let Celia show him the array of candy she had discovered on the trip over and stuffed his pockets as full as he could get them.

_Evie hated Sunday’s, particularly the last Sunday in the month, which was weird, since the other kids on the Isle didn’t seem to mind Sunday’s at all, mostly because it meant no school. But, for Evie, school didn’t matter, being castle schooled meant she never got away from her lessons, and her mother didn’t spare her of them or her lectures. Most children would be sleeping in late, or roaming the bazar at this hour, and yet Evie, just thirteen-years-old stood in the middle of their living room, surrounded by mirrors, six standing mirrors to be exact. They were a mis-match of heights, width’s, and colours around their outsides, along with scuffs, cracks and scratches everywhere, but Evie didn’t mind that. She stood on a set of scales, ones she swore her mother had broken, as the little red meter was stuck firmly close to the top weight, it barely fluctuated, no matter what Evie seemed to do._

_Her mother called it ‘weigh-in day’. Which, in Grimhilde’s eyes, meant finding out of Evie had been eating too much._

_Evie felt it was for a different reason. She called it weigh-in day because it was exactly what her mother was going to do. Grimhilde was about to weigh in on every part of her daughter that wasn’t to her liking, and Evie had to guess everything correctly before her mother would let her leave the scales and stop staring at herself._

_Grimhilde sat in a large, tattered, armchair watching her frail daughter with careful and accusing eyes, as Evie stared at herself, and then began to pick herself apart._

_She had been doing it since she could stand and talk on a regular basis, and sometimes Evie found herself standing there until the middle of the night from first thing in the morning, when her feet had begun to ache, and her body grew worn and tired. Some nights she had been so short on food that she would pass out right there where she stood, to Grimhilde’s disgust, and she woke up a complete mess on the floor the following afternoon to Grimhilde tutting at her distastefully. “You have to learn how to find your flaws, Evelyn… it’s how the pretty become beautiful.” Her mother would tell her, and so she always tried her best to stand there as long as she could tolerate._

_Evie hated mirrors so much more on a Sunday. _

_“My hair is too frizzy.” Evie stated, her eyes were already quite heavy, and it was only midday, she had been standing here since six this morning. Her hair was no where near frizzy, the humidity had splayed the ends a fraction, but the rest of it remained perfectly in place, but Evie couldn’t see that, not today. All she saw was her body, too fat, in her bare underwear that was discoloured with age, her make-up-less face and the scars on her body from where Grimhilde had lost control and couldn’t stop her anger, which was rare, but sometimes happened, like the one right across her shoulder._

_“And…” Grimhilde spurred her on, her eyes looking to her child in complete disgust._

_“The bags under my eyes are getting darker.” Evie noted. When her mother didn’t say anything, she carried on, “My eyelashes aren’t thick enough, they need mascara all the time.” She did that, and her mother liked it. Grimhilde definitely liked it when Evie picked up on _solutions_ to her bodily problems, not just the way she looked._

_“Go on.” Her mother encouraged, her eyes trained almost onto the TV out of the corner of her eyes instead of Evie._

_Evie turned slightly in the mirror, to catch another angle on herself. Looking to her arm that was full of scars. “I need to start applying a few layers of foundations over these scars.” She said. That was another time Grimhilde had lost it, one Sunday when Evie had only been four, standing waning and whining as she looked at herself in the mirrors. When Evie hadn’t guessed what had been wrong with her correctly after so many hours, Grimhilde had gotten so fed up she had shoved her daughter into the mirrors. One of them shattered, and Evie, falling, cut up her arm as she tried to save her face from falling first into the shards of mirror. _

_“Yes, you do.” Grimhilde nodded._

_Harry had been concerned when Evie didn’t show up on Friday night. She had promised to see him, and Evie didn’t promise lightly. With Grimhilde as her mother, Harry knew it meant one of two things, Evie was hurt and was ashamed to see the world, or her mother had locked her in her bedroom with no food once again. _

_He spent a whole day worrying yesterday and then this morning, before resounding himself and walking toward the familiar castle with one goal in mind: saving his beautiful Evie. _

_First, he had to see where Grimhilde was, because if he was caught, he knew Evie would be in trouble, so he began peeking through the windows of the castle. There were curtains, but they were thin and worn with holes spattering them. He looked through a hole in the curtain of the living room window, greeted by the sight of Grimhilde sat in her chair watching TV. _

_It was quiet, aside from the mumbling of the TV, so Harry stood to go around to Evie’s window, when he heard her small voice speaking over the shopping channel._

_“I’m too fat. I definitely should start skipping breakfast.” Evie noted, and Harry’s heart clenched painfully in his chest. Evie, fat?! He couldn’t imagine it. _

_He looked back through the window and moved around to change his angle of the room. He saw her standing in the middle of the room, in only her underwear, surrounded by mirrors. Suddenly, he felt sick to his stomach. Grimhilde was definitely a bitch, and Harry wanted to hook her for what she was putting Evie through._

_When Grimhilde didn’t answer, Evie huffed and looked at herself some more, moving her face in closer to the mirror. “I need to not smile so much… I’m giving myself wrinkles.” She pointed out as she tugged at the corners of her eyes and at the forming dimples where her cheeks creased up from a smile. _

_“Yes!” Harry almost jumped back at the sudden exclamation, “You’re absolutely right, my dear Evilette.” Grimhilde stood and blocked his view of Evie. “Now I want these mirrors put away and then you can go upstairs and work on fixing your problems.” Grimhilde’s voice sent a shiver down Harry’s spine, the questions in his mind of how long had Evie been going through this? _ _And just how long exactly she had been standing there today. _

_Grimhilde left, probably toward the kitchen, Harry noted, and so he popped open the living room window, and clambered himself through._

_Evie jumped as he fell to the wooden floor. When she saw it was Harry, she had a split moment of covering her disgusting body, then trying to shield her ugly, make-up-less face from him. _

_“You need to leave.” Evie said, quickly and quietly, not wanting her mother to know he was there._

_“Evie…” Harry whispered._

_She tried again to shield herself from him, but it was to no avail. She was so embarrassed and knew how disgusting she looked. Harry would never love her after this. “Please, Harry.” She pleaded._

_Quickly, she began wheeling mirrors away to the corner of the room, for use in a few weeks’ time, relieved that they gave her a few seconds of cover from the boy. Harry, however, instead of leaving like she asked him, helped her. Moving the mirrors quickly to where she did. _

_“If they’re away, Darling, make sure to start working on your problems.” Grimhilde called through to her in a sing-song voice._

_“Yes mother!” Evie called back. Shooting Harry a look, but he was standing firmly where he was._

_When Evie turned to go up the stairs, he followed her, hot on her trail._

_Grimhilde didn’t notice the two sets of footsteps on the stairs, or the way they kept trying to mutter angrily to one another beneath their breath. Instead, she carried her lunch through to the cleaned-up living room and turned the shopping channel up louder._

_Evie got to her room and locked the pair of them inside with haste. “You can’t be here.” She told him sternly, then very quickly made her way to her dresser, fishing out leggings and a shirt that had seen better days, but were patched over neatly by the young girl herself._

_Harry gave her a moment of privacy and turned around to see Evie dressed and sat on the edge of her bed._

_“What’s all tha’ about?” He asked, concerned and confused. _

_“It’s just… a thing. It doesn’t matter.” Evie told him, but he knew it wasn’t normal._

_“O’course, it matters.” He fought back and sat beside her._

_“Harry.” Evie pleaded and looked at him, her eyes damp, “It’s just something we do once a month. It’s a princess thing.”_

_Harry knew it wasn’t one. He wasn’t dumb or sheltered. Her mother was a sick psychopath who was hellbent on making Evie not see the perfectness of herself, and it made him feel sick. He must have stared too long… He jumped at Evie’s outburst._

_“Why haven’t you left yet?” Evie shouted, thankful the TV was loud enough that her mother wouldn’t hear them._

_Harry was almost hurt but saw in Evie’s eyes that her words weren’t the intention he took them as. “Why would I leave?”_

_“Because I’m ugly. You’ve just seen how ugly I am! I’m hideous.” Evie exclaimed, and he broke at the sight of her._

_“Evie…” Harry sighed. How could he fix this? How could he make this right? “Ye’re the most beautiful girl I know.” She opened her mouth to interrupt, so he carried on quickly. “With or without ye make-up. Clothes, or no clothes.” He told her, sincerely. “How can ye think those things about yeself?” He asked her, and she could only look to him with wet, upset eyes. _

_Harry looked her over, and saw the way she shied from his gaze, wracked his brain of what to do to fix the damage her mother had done to Evie. He leant in, and kissed her so, so delicately._

_“What was that for?” Evie asked when he pulled away from her, genuinely confused, and surprised he wasn’t repulsed by her like her mother said boys would be._

_“That is because I love yer lips, they’re so beautiful, soft, an’ gentle. And they’re the perfect colour without ye lip glosses.” He leant up and kissed at the side of her eyes. “Because I think ye laugh lines are adorable, an’ it reminds me of when ye laugh at my dumb jokes.” He kissed the top of her head on her blue hair, “Yer hair looks beautiful today, an’ every other day. It’s so perfectly you.” And on he went. Kissing her fingertips, so graceful and careful to make her clothes, her arms that wrapped him in the gentlest of hugs, her feet that always ventured out towards the docks to see him. Her stomach (through her shirt) that was perfect and definitely not fat, her shoulder, despite the scar on it, that reminded him of when they first met._

_Evie melted into each kiss he gave her, not even caring that she had no make-up on still. _

_By the time she was finishing, Evie was crying purely because no one had ever been so nice to her before, and almost forgot all about her mother, and what they had been doing the half an hour previously._

_Harry was good to her, too good to her, “Thanks.” She muttered out breathlessly._

_“Ye never have te thank me.” Harry gave her a genuine smile, full of care and love for her._

_“You really should go. She’ll be up soon.” Evie confessed. _

_Harry nodded, understanding fully what she meant. “I’ll see ye later.” He promised, walking to her window, letting down the rope tie she hid under her bed. “Ye know where I am if ye need me.” He said with a final smile, and then climbed out of the window._

_Once he was gone, Evie stood and pulled the rope back in, closing her window with a small sigh of relief._

_She went to her vanity and began to do as her mother asked of her: fixing up all of her problems._

_Evie just felt so lucky that, at least once a month, Harry stopped by, to kiss all of her flaws away, and that made getting through the Sunday’s a little more bearable. _

When the car drove off, Evie watched it until it disappeared from her sight. Once it did, she turned to her friends with a short wave of goodbye. “I’ve got an engagement party dress to make. Let me know how things go.” She said, more so to Mal than the boys.

Evie walked back to her place in near silence. She hadn’t missed the way Dizzy was clinging to her hand, as if this was the only motherly figure she would ever see again, or the way the two Smee boys were holding on tightly to Doug, also realising the same.

She was acting almost robotic when they got to her place. She cleaned up the mess the kids had made the night before, and disposed of the leftovers of Jane’s cake, lecturing the three on not eating cake for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, before throwing some food together for them for an afternoon snack. Dizzy was allowed to eat hers in her room, which felt a little emptier now Celia was no longer there. While Squeaky and Squirmy were eating theirs in front of the TV with a child friendly movie Evie had picked.

She took herself into her conservatory and tried to pour her feelings out over making Mal’s engagement party dress.

Evie had almost forgot Doug was there.

He walked behind her, and put his hands on her tense shoulders, beginning to massage them… another thing Evie enjoyed about having him around.

“You need to relax. Audrey will be okay.” He told her in a reassuring tone.

“We don’t know that.” Evie said, mindlessly.

For a moment, she just wanted to play along with Doug. Live the happy life for a short while longer, but knew doing that was selfish, and sometimes it was better to rip the band aid off. She was already upset… how much worse could it get?

“Doug?” Evie sighed, and spun her stool so she was facing him.

“Yeah?” He asked, taking in the tears in her eyes, he grew worried.

“We need… We should talk.” Evie told him, and he frowned.

Evie put the sewing kit down and stood from her chair. She was paranoid that one of the younger V.K.’s would overhear them, and so she left the conservatory and sat outside on a bench that overlooked the yard of her house. Doug didn’t question her, he just moved in step with her and sat beside her, ever perfect like he was.

“I…” Evie tried to start but didn’t know what to quite say.

“Whatever it is, Evie, it’s okay.” Evie realised, from the tone of his voice, that Doug was expecting this, and she felt ever so guilty.

“When you were cursed.” She started, knowing that was the point where it all fell apart. “I tried to kiss you awake… but it didn’t work… it isn’t true love, Doug.”

He paled, looked almost guilty, too. Evie had to wonder why but wouldn’t ask.

“I don’t think… This relationship…” Evie tried, but her eyes were wet with tears again.

“Evie…” He rested a hand on her knee and squeezed it gently.

“It’s not going to work.” She said to him, never looking over at him, her eyes transfixed on his hand.

Doug nodded, “I understand.” He confessed. “But I’d still like to keep you as a friend.” He told her, a hopeful tone in his voice.

Evie looked shocked, “Wait, you’re not angry? You’re not going to shout? Or trash my things?”

Doug laughed, which was odd to Evie given the moment, “I would never. That isn’t how things work in Auradon, Evie.” He sighed, “Love works in both ways, and if we don’t have it, that’s okay.”

”…Can I have some time?” She asked, small and weak.

Doug nodded again, “Absolutely. But if you need me, you have my number.” He kissed the top of her head as he got up and left, walking back through the trees to give her back her privacy.

Evie broke down while sat on the bench.

She cried, because she realised very quickly what she had done, and the fact that Doug was such a good guy that he wouldn’t let her feel bad for doing it.

She cried because she knew she had kept Dizzy from seeing her Grandmother ever again.

She cried because she once had everything and suddenly felt like she had nothing.

She cried because she felt her world falling apart.

Evie sat there for a while, hunched into herself with nothing but her own thoughts and tears, when Dizzy found her and pulled her from them.

“Evie?” She asked sounding far too concerned for just a twelve-year-old girl.

Evie wiped her nose with the back of her hand, she quickly dried her eyes, but knew the damage had been done.

“Are you okay?” Dizzy asked, knowing it was a dumb question, but also not knowing what to do in the situation.

Evie looked at her and saw Dizzy holding her phone out. She glanced to it.

“Sorry, it was ringing. It’s Mal.” Dizzy explained, passing Evie the phone.

Evie gratefully took it and breathed out a sigh. “Hey Mal.” She said down the line, voice hoarse with tears.

“Evie…” Mal sounded weary on the other end of the line, and Evie hoped she could get lost in Mal’s Hades problems, but realised quickly that wasn’t why her tone was like that, “What’s going on? Dizzy sounded really worried about you?”

“Nothing.” Evie coughed to clear her throat. Forced this fake, chirpy voice out that she was used to giving people on the Isle. “How’s Audrey?”

“She’s fine, it worked. But you…” Mal carried on, and Evie didn’t know what to say. “I’ll be over soon.” Mal informed her, and, without giving her a chance to protest, Mal hung up the phone.

Soon, Evie was worried, could be in an hour, or in five minutes with Mal. She got herself up hastily and headed into her house, hoping she had enough time to make her make-up look more presentable once again.


	9. Avoidance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this has taken me so long! Here it is, the second to last chapter. Let me know what you think.

She avoids seeing anyone, which was quite difficult in Auradon. There are things to do and plans to be made, like helping take Squeaky and Squirmy to Auradon Prep in order to be officially enrolled (Dizzy has to go to, but Evie reminds herself that the girl could go on her own, it’s Auradon… she would be fine). When Evie gets there it’s to see Fairy Godmother, Ben, and Mal, all waiting on her, and she avoids her best friends’ worrying gaze completely. She has a dark purple dress over her arm, beautiful as ever, for Mal’s engagement party dress, but only on the hope she could ask someone else to pass it to the soon to be Queen of Auradon.

The boys are enrolled quickly, since they didn’t talk too much to protest, but Evie had learned a few of their favourites, and helped chime in so they could get their dorm room more to their comfort and the food a little more to their liking.

Ben offers them a tour of the tourney field, class rooms, and lunch halls. Says Dizzy is already being shown around by Doug (she doesn’t miss the way Mal eyes her worriedly at his name) and the two children disappear out of the room, followed by Fairy Godmother, who has an appointment at the museum to help secure the cursed objects of their parents, so no one else would be able to use them for destroying Auradon ever again.

Evie takes it as her cue to stand and leave behind them. Barely waits all of a second, because she _really _doesn’t need the upset again. She had spent hours upon hours crying and trying to work out her life now; what it meant, and where she goes from here.

She finds her wrist caught in Mal’s when she gets to the door but hadn’t realised the other girl has risen to her feet to stop her.

“E…” Mal turns her around, making Evie face her, and Evie takes in her already watery eyes. “You can’t avoid me forever.” Mal says.

_She can try… just for a while, at least._ Evie thinks, but chews her lip to stop herself from saying it. “I’m not–“

Her words are stopped when Mal shoots her a look of knowing. Because of course it is avoidance when your best friend hasn’t bothered to see you or answer your phone calls in three days.

“Please, E…” Mal begs, her fingers lacing with Evie’s gently. “We don’t even have to talk about… _him_, I just want my best friend back.” The words are pleading. “And I know Jay and Carlos want you back, too.”

Evie hadn’t actively avoided the two boys, it was easy enough for her to not have to try. They were always at practice, getting the team in shape for term starting in a month’s time; they weren’t around, and that was okay for Evie.

When Evie doesn’t reply, Mal wraps her in a tight hug, feels the way Evie almost _melts_ into it, and knows it was what she needed.

“You’re going to be okay. We can get through it together… we’re family, remember?” Mal whispers into her shoulder, still maintaining the hug.

“Carlos and Jay are in the practice room. They want to see you.” Mal informed her, still as tender as a moment before. She pulled away from the hug, but with Evie still wordless, she guided her down to the sword fighting room. Carlos and Jay were alone, which was rare, normally Jane would have been somewhere around here, and they were taking a break to grab a drink and a protein bar from the vending machine in the corner.

Both boys grinned at the sight of Evie.

“Hey, long time no see!” Jay said as he walked to meet them halfway, Carlos followed suit, and settled a hand on Evie’s shoulder, confirming what she had thought… They knew; Mal must have told them.

“How’re you holding up?” Carlos asked, the only one out of the three friends that knew how to be comforting and sweet.

Evie was sure Mal had wanted to kill Doug, and Jay would have been there right along side her. Carlos and herself, they weren’t the Braun of the group. Carlos had the brains, and Evie had the heart.

She said nothing, which was worrying in itself. Caught the way Jay looked at Mal with concern but couldn’t see much else other than the sudden welling of tears in her eyes. She felt Carlos’ arms wrap around her in a warm hug, and then another two sets of arms as Jay and Mal both took his hint.

She realised… that she had never been alone in her life, and suddenly she was, all over again.

But Evie knew they wouldn’t understand. How could they? Mal had Ben, Carlos had Jane, and Jay had Lonnie who was returning from a family trip in a few weeks’ time… Evie was alone, and it hurt her to realise so because Evie’s entire life had been based around her _not_ being alone.

She had been the talk of the Isle when she was just a child, until she had been banished at the age of six thanks to Mal and her mother… Evie was never sure what had happened to that invitation, but she swore she had penned it. Remembered every painstaking letter she had hand written in her small scrawl. Any mistakes or messes and she would have to start over. Weeks upon weeks her mother had made the girl sit there at their dining table and just _write_ until her hand was cramping and sore, until she _whined_ and ended up being sent to her bedroom without dinner.

She had had her mother with her through her first few years of banishment. It was the closest she ever knew of love. Her mother’s scrutinising gaze and the way she looked at her repulsed if she ate too much or did something unladylike in her opinion. She clung to her mother’s potion book for dear life, tried to make mock potions of her own, practice for when she got older, and hoped someday she could impress the witch that had raised her.

She had found Harry Hook on the docks when she was just ten years old, seeking refuge from her mother’s fury for the first of many times in her life. Enjoyed the weekends when her mother was consumed by the shopping channel or her latest boyfriend because it was much easier to slip away from her room to visit the boy she had become familiar with, saw him as her best friend, her new refuge up on that dock.

She had met Uma a few weeks after Harry, and though the girl was icy and closed off, Evie took a shine to her loyalty and stern attitude. She saw the lost spark in the back of Uma’s eye and knew, just like the rest of the lost children on the Isle, Uma had suffered the same fate as they all did. When she saw a deep welt on Uma’s cheek one evening as the girl interrupted Harry and herself on the docks, she did her best to not ask any questions, other than offering her a hand if she needed it, or something to help her out. Uma didn’t appreciate it, but also didn’t hit her, which Evie thought was progress.

She had been thirteen when she met Dizzy, the small girl with hopes and dreams in her eyes, a complete misfit for the Isle. She found herself bringing her dyes and small jewels from her own home in the following weeks and months, learning of Dizzy’s affinity for crafting jewellery. The girl was as lonely as Evie felt sometimes, trapped with her mother, not allowed to go to school for fear of a mess needing cleaning at a moment’s notice, and so Evie brought her own work books and tried to teach her. They spent hours, upon hours, in the small shop reading textbooks and making jewellery together.

She had been sixteen when she had been first allowed to return to Dragon Hall, her mother declaring that, she knew very much, of Evie’s frolicking about the Isle, and if she could do that, she could very well return to school, guessing Maleficent was no longer holding a grudge over them. She was terrified to return to a normal world but tried to do it with her head held high and her mother’s words in the back of her mind, reminding her to be a lady above all else. It didn’t go to plan. She was shoved against lockers, tripped several times, and found herself beaten nearly daily as she tried to keep up her persona. Her mother hadn’t warned her about this, and she didn’t understand why the Isle couldn’t just embrace the Princess that she was… Evie was too naïve to realise that Isle and Princess just didn’t fit together.

She had also been sixteen when she first found Carlos De Vil in class, pouring over some weird contraption he claimed to be able to burst a hole in the barrier. Becoming fast friends with him, because he was the only person at Dragon Hall that didn’t seem phased by her princess-ly ways. He had a treehouse full of chemicals and experiments, and she loved it. She brought him pillows and a blanket from home, and in turn, he let her attempt to make her mother’s potions from the old, tattered spell book, desperate to prove she could do something right.

She had met Mal and Jay in the same way. Mal was definitely not over her grudge, and Jay stole her jewellery, the necklace Dizzy had made. Evie knew it wasn’t valuable, but it held a lot of significance for her. Dizzy was upset when Evie explained what had happened to it, but understood that, because it was the Isle, these things would happen. She just made her another, and a few extras in case it happened again.

She had felt comfortable with only having Harry, Uma, Carlos, and Dizzy as her friends. Couldn’t fit in with anyone else and knew it would just have to be the way she lived. And yet, after meeting Harriet, and the Gaston twins, Evie found her life changing once again. Betrayed, and a walking disappointment… Evie was more than used to shutting her friends out and holding grudges against herself for not being good enough. Harry hadn’t pushed past that. They stopped talking a month after.

She was still sixteen when Mal didn’t let her fall to her mother’s sceptre that she had found on the Isle. Letting down her barriers along the trip had almost solidified it. They became _friends_ if you could even call it that. They never did, it was the Isle after all.

Her invite to Auradon came a week after their failed Dragon’s Eye mission. Evie was whisked away to a new life, where she had her three best friends: Mal, Jay and Carlos. She had fallen quickly for a prince here and there and learned that it wasn’t what she wanted. Doug and her ended up together after just a month in Auradon.

“I don’t know how to be alone…” Evie confessed, a small whisper into the moment of their hug. Her voice broke with the confession. If anyone heard her, they didn’t answer. A hand found her back and rubbed soothing circles. She couldn’t tell who it was, but Evie didn’t mind. “Everything is going to be… different… and _not me_.”

That prompted one set of arms to wrap less tightly around her. She knew it was Mal, her arms were the smallest of the three of them. The circle carried on on her back, so she guessed that it had to be Jay.

“No, E. You aren’t alone… you have us. You always have us.” Mal still whispered, her own voice hoarse with unshed tears. “But being alone isn’t a scary thing, needing someone, that’s what your mother wanted, not you.”

She knew, somewhere deep in her brain, that Mal was right. Her mother had instilled it in her and reinforced it every time she stopped to question the words. It only served to make her the way she is today.

“And just like you don’t need a prince to make you happy.” Jay piped in now, taller than her, he had his lips pressed to her hair in a tender kiss as he spoke. “…You also don’t need anyone else, Evie. You’ve got us, and we’re always here for you.”

“No matter what we’re doing in our own lives.” Carlos said with a cryptic reassurance that Evie understood quickly. He was always so perceptive, she had to thank him for that later.

They stood like that for a moment longer, before Evie took a deep breath and nodded, wiping a hand beneath her eyes to remove any lost tears she had shed.

“We’re always going to be a family.” Carlos added on, smiling at her as she fixed herself up.

For a girl who always thought family was bad news, Evie sure was grateful to have her own, make-shift family right here.

The door to the room opened, and she very suddenly heard a chatting Dizzy, which meant only one thing. Dizzy walked into the room alongside Doug, who froze at the sight of the four friends.

“Sorry… is this a bad time?”

No one spoke, Evie noticed. She saw Jay clench and unclench his fists, saw Mal cross her arms over her chest defensively, and felt Carlos’ hand on her arm. “No, of course not.” Evie broke the silence, letting her friends fall out of formation.

She put up her walls again, letting her perky exterior show. “How was the tour?” Evie asked, moving over to Dizzy, who had lost her excitement for the brief moment.

Dizzy quickly found her own smile bubbling back to the surface. “It was great! This place… it’s so amazing.” That brought a genuine smile to Evie’s face.

“It is, huh?” Evie asked and let the girl begin babbling on about the dorms, the facilities, the classes she would be taking, all of it.

They began walking from the room, and Evie made sure to turn around to her three friends, mouthing a small, “Thanks,” on her way out of the room.


	10. Barrier-less

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, the final part. Thank you all for commenting, kudoing and bookmarking this story, it means the world to me, truly! Hopefully I'll see you all again soon maybe with a sequel.

It had been two days since they had enrolled the Smee twins and Dizzy into Auradon Prep. Two days since her friends reassured her that they were there for her in their own make-shift family. Two long days where Evie reminded herself that being alone was her mother’s fear self-imposed onto her daughter.

Instead, Evie found routine. She focused on her extra credit school work. She made clothes, mostly for the two boys and Dizzy, since they hadn’t brought many with them, and worked really hard to ensure three square meals were on the table every day for the three children, something Evie struggled with still, since her own Isle days, but she tried to eat with them, remind herself that she didn’t need her mother’s pressures to be beautiful any more.

The day of Mal’s engagement party rolled around. Evie had worked tirelessly, but the boys had new shirts for the occasion along with some dark trousers, even if their outfits looked strikingly similar to their old clothes, but that was what they liked, Evie was just glad they let her make them jeans that weren’t red, while she had made a black and green outfit for Dizzy, who fell head over heels in love with it.

She’d dug a blue number from one of the racks that she had been working on since she had been planning the engagement and its party along side Ben and his parents, and stood, waiting with Carlos and Jay, because they were family, and that was who she felt most comfortable standing with.

Trust Mal to be fashionably late, just like Lady Tremaine taught them in their selfishness class back in Dragon Hall.

“There they are.” Evie finally observed as she saw two familiar figures walking through the underpass.

Everyone around the broke into cheers, and Mal waved, ever the Queen that she was meant to be.

“Hi.” Evie said as Mal walked past, felt her friends’ comforting squeeze of her arm, even though Mal didn’t once drop her Queenly act… Evie was glad she had taught her so well.

Mal and Ben rounded on the stairs and up toward the balcony overlooking the dock.

“Lady Mal and I want to thank you for celebrating our engagement with us today.” Ben began as they got to the front of the balcony, overlooking them all. “I couldn’t be prouder or happier to call you my Queen. So… raise your glasses. To our future Queen of Auradon.”

Evie raised her glass, much like her Carlos and Jay did at either side of her, “To our Queen of Auradon.” They chorused.

“Speech your special-ness.” Carlos started in some posh accent that made Evie almost laugh.

“Speech your fancy-one.” Jay added, and everyone else laughed along with them.

But Evie could see it. Mal wasn’t okay, and the look on her face proved that. She didn’t know if she was the only one who saw it and looked to Carlos at her side to see if he had noticed the same. He had, and looked right back to Evie, then to Mal, almost readying themselves to run up there and whisk Mal away, doing their usual damage control.

“I can’t.” Mal admitted, and Evie’s heart clenched in her chest.

This time she looked to Jay, who looked equally as concerned.

“I can’t be Queen of Auradon.”

Ben tried to stop her, whispering something Evie missed, and Mal whispered something in return. Whatever it was, it hadn’t been the best of whispers, because she noticed Belle and Beast didn’t seem to happy by it, and Ben seemed stunned.

“We made a decision… to close the barrier forever. And it was my idea. But it’s wrong.”

Evie felt the tears in her eyes, realised just what Mal was saying, and was so proud of her best friend in that moment in time, even despite the Fairy Godmother looking a little peaky, and Belle and Beast seemingly on edge.

“I’ve learned that you can’t live in fear… Because it doesn’t actually protect you from anything. You never know where the bad is gonna come from. And you never know where the heroes are gonna come from either. Without Uma and her pirates, Auradon would be gone. And without Hades… my father…”

Evie heard the gasp of people around her, knew the confession was a shock to them. “M…” She gave a sympathetic look to Mal but it was also full of pride, because she knew it was a major step the girl was taking to break down her walls and become the queen she had to be.

“…Audrey would be gone.” Mal finished, “We are all capable of good and bad, no matter which side of the barrier we come from. And that’s why I can’t be Queen of just Auradon. I have to be Queen of the Isle, too. And it’s time that we take the barrier down forever.”

Evie’s heart was rushing in her ears, because she knew just what that meant.

She was happy at the prospect of the boys and Dizzy seeing their parent’s and Grandparent’s again.

She was thrilled to be able to return home whenever she pleased.

She knew Celia would be able to do _both – _be in Auradon and the Isle – just as she had wanted.

And she knew, somewhere in that Isle, Harry was, too…

But her blood ran cold, because it also meant her mother, her dreadful, abusive mother, was somewhere there, too, and would also be free.

“I chose to be a king who moves forward. It’s time for new beginnings. It’s time for forgiveness. The barrier will come down!” Ben declared, and the group of them broke into cheers.

She was clapping when she felt Jay tap her on the shoulder, taking her hand and leading her toward the staircase. Because they had to see this. They spent sixteen years trapped there, and suddenly… it would be no more.

They joined Mal on the balcony. Evie felt her hand tight in Carlos’.

“To make the world a better place…” Mal started.

“We have to do it face to face.” They all joined in, and suddenly a streak of light arced off of the wand. It was familiar, and Evie remembered it from the night of Mal’s party in Carlos’ treehouse… so he had broken the barrier, if only for a little while.

The light hit the Isle, the barrier dissipated quickly before their eyes and the doom cloud that hung-over head slipped away, too. The bridge magically formed without needing the remote any longer, and suddenly, she couldn’t stop the tears from wanting to leave her eyes.

They’d done it.

All of the V.K.’s… they could have a new life here in Auradon.

It took a few moments, Evie assumed, of weariness and uncertainty on the Isle, adjusting to the new light, and the long bridge before them, but soon enough she saw it, a large group of familiar faces moving down the bridge toward Auradon.

She rushed to meet them alongside her friends, ready to welcome them all over, to their new home if they pleased, and see just how relieved they all looked… if she saw Harry Hook again, she wouldn’t have complained.

Evie knew she wasn’t going to be as fortunate as she hoped. Uma was first over, with her crew and Celia, who seemed to have been taken under her wing, Evie knew proudly, along with so many of the V.K.’s that had begged to come over to Auradon just a couple of weeks ago.

Harry was nowhere to be seen… Evie tried to not let it bother her.

Instead she embraced Celia tightly, “Welcome back.” Before the young girl saw Dizzy and the pair hugged one another.

Soon after, they realised, villains strolled over. Namely Dr. Facillier, Lady Tremaine, and Mr. Smee. The four children, delighted to see them once again, most of them after realising they had said goodbye for good, ran over and hugged them deeply and warmly.

Hades came across the barrier next, and Evie saw him hug Mal, quashing any fears she had felt about him betraying his daughter.

Instead, Evie’s eyes were distracted by glitter, and dancing, loud music, and an engagement party fit for the future Queen of Auradon.

Everyone piled into the gardens just off of the dock, where food was being served and drinks, along with music and entertainment. Just as Evie had helped plan, it was wonderful.

She watched, trying not to feel her lonely bone creeping up inside of her, as Jay and Gil chatted about some trip they wanted to take, as Carlos and Jane spoke about his mother, and Mal and Ben cuddled up alongside one another, being showered with congratulations from both Auradon kids and Isle kids.

Evie was pressed against a tree, and saw as Uma walked toward her, two drinks in her hands. She offered one to Evie, who gratefully took it, but still had a questioning look in her eyes.

Uma didn’t need her to ask, she knew what the girl was thinking, “He… He’s stubborn.” Uma informed her, without needing to say his name.

Evie knew what she meant and took a sip of her drink as she looked through the arch leading to the dock, down toward the bridge that lead _home._

“But I’m sure he could be persuaded,” Uma said, her tongue playing across her teeth like a piano to try and hide the smirk on her face.

Evie didn’t nod, she just looked into her glass distantly. All her worried and fears playing in her head for only a short second.

Next thing she knew, Mal was rushing over to her, taking her drink away, and pulling her through the arch, along side Carlos and Jay.

They all held hands as they looked at the bridge. “Do you ever miss them?” Evie asked, first, knowing that Jay and Carlos were thinking of their parents more than anything.

“Yeah.” Jay confessed.

“D’you think that they miss us?” Mal asked, making them look to her with a small smile.

“Yeah, of course.” Carlos answered.

“Cause we’re rotten…” Mal started and put her fist into the centre.

They all put their own fists atop hers. “To the core.” They added in chorus.

“Hey,” Carlos started and drew all of their attention, “Last one over the bridge…”

“It a rotten apple!” The rest of them chimed, and off they took running.

It was almost a shock, to everyone, and to Evie, just how well she could run in her heels, she was certainly first across the bridge, but a bit breathless to go alongside it. Jay chuckled as he stopped just after her, “You should… definitely be on the tourney team.” He laughed, catching his own breath as Mal and Carlos stopped near them.

All of them laughed for a moment as they caught their breaths.

“I guess we better…” Carlos cocked his head, signalling that he didn’t want to _say_ ‘see our parents’ but he _meant _it.

They were a family, and so they would do it as that.

They stopped by the Bazar first, finding Jafar’s familiar shop. It wasn’t as well stocked as it once had been when Jay had been stealing for his father, but it wasn’t so bad, either. He had managed to make it work, it seemed. Jay tentatively knocked on the door around the side and heard a bustle before Jafar tugged the door open, his eyes wide as he saw his son standing in front of him.

“…Jay.” Jafar gasped, and then wrapped him in a tight embrace.

“We’re not staying too long.” Jay said, and saw his father deflate a little, “But the barrier’s open. As long as you don’t bring your old ways to Auradon, you’re welcome to visit. Maybe you can come see me at a tourney game.” He offered, because just like all of them, all Jay wanted to do was make his father proud.

Jafar nodded. “Of course, of course.” He said, with a quick nod of his head. “I’ll be there.”

He didn’t show up. They never said anything about it to Jay, though.

Hell Hall was their next stop, Carlos seemed incredibly nervous, so Evie knocked on his behalf.

“Cut out that nefarious racket!” They heard from the other side and knew the familiar voice all too well.

The door opened, and Cruella looked wide eyed at her son.

“Hi mom.” Carlos said, looking down and twiddling his thumbs.

“Carlos?!” Cruella exclaimed, not sure why her son chose to visit her now, of all times, because he had been back to the Isle several times, and she knew it, and hadn’t bothered with her once. “What are you and your… _friends_ doing here?!”

“The… The barrier’s open, mom. I just… I wanted to come by and say hi… that I’ve missed you.” Carlos laid his feelings out bare, and the other three looked cautiously to Cruella, because they wanted nothing more than for his feelings to be reciprocated but had a feeling that they wouldn’t be.

“Baby and I have missed you too.” She exclaimed, and squeaked the fake dog on her shoulder, it made Carlos’ eyes brighten for a moment. “We needed someone to help organise our furs!” She broke into her manic laughter, and Carlos’s face dulled significantly.

“We best be going.” Evie stepped in, wrapping her arms around Carlos’ shoulders, knowing he would only get his feelings hurt further if they stood there any longer. “It was lovely to see you again, Cruella.” She said, and it had not an ounce of sincerity.

They ushered Carlos from the door of his home, and Cruella shut the door behind herself, mumbling about her furs along the way.

“Sorry…” Evie said, mostly to Carlos who was still looking down at his fiddling hands.

“Don’t be.” Carlos said, feeling guilty all of a sudden. “It was actually nice… seeing her again.” He confessed, and Jay nodded his head in agreeance.

They held a small circle of each other’s hands, giving a squeeze of reassurance to each other, before off they went through the forest, towards Evie’s familiar castle.

“Maybe this isn’t…” Evie started as she saw it… she never imagined coming back, and if she were honest, she was terrified seeing her mother again would be nothing good for her own mentality.

“We’re here for you.” Mal squeezed her hand, spurring her on further.

Evie walked up the grand front steps and knocked the gargoyle door knocker as quietly as she could, which still sent loud echoes through the castle.

“Evie!” Her mother exclaimed when she opened the door, she pulled the girl toward herself, giving her a brief hug before she held her at arm’s length, she didn’t miss the scrutinising look. Knew what was going to come before it had even been said.

“Have you found a prince, yet?” Grimhilde asked, quickly.

“No, mother.” Evie confessed, and tried to ignore the flash of disappointment in her mother’s eyes.

“You’ve put on weight.” Grimhilde noted… Auradon food would do that to you… three meals a day would do that to you, “And your make-up… it’s a mess!” Her mother exclaimed.

To anyone else, it was offensive… To Evie, this was her affection. Her mother pulled out a compact and began to dab make-up onto her daughter’s face.

“I actually came to tell you, mother, the barrier is open.”

Grimhilde seemed to care little about that. “Well, when you find a castle with a mother-in-law wing, I’ll come and live with you then.” She gave her daughter a proud smile, applying new mascara over Evie’s ruined one from when she cried watching the barrier come down.

“Yes, mother.” Evie agreed, because what else could she do?

“Perfect.” Grimhilde said, but Evie couldn’t bask in it, she gave her daughter’s shoulder a push, and Evie stumbled, thankful Mal was behind her to stop her from falling.

“Make sure you find a prince!” Grimhilde called to her and closed the door in Evie’s face.

The way her cheeks were over blushed sent Evie into a panic. She didn’t like that anymore, and she had certainly tried to tone her look down while in Auradon. She used her hand to try and wipe off some of the make-up as quickly as she could.

“Could’ve been worse.” Mal commented, and they all knew that was because they hadn’t had to stop and visit Maleficent along this lovely journey.

They walked quietly back through the woods, past hell hall and toward the bridge on the dock, Evie thinking about Harry the entire time.

Mother would be disappointed, she knew… but Prince’s weren’t for her. Evie squeezed Mal’s hand. “I’ve got something I want to take care of. You guys go on ahead.”

They seemed weary and cautious, knowing every time they came back to the Isle something bad happened. Mostly being kidnapped, or a villain trying to break through. But there was no barrier now. Evie could walk across that bridge at any time, if she so pleased.

“E…” Mal started, looking worried, had her mother really affected her so much?

“I’m okay.” Evie said, sincerely. “I’ve just missed it here. If I’m not back in an hour, I give you all permission to come and drag me away from here.” She said, standing straight with her head held high.

“Fine.” Mal succumbed a moment later, to Jay’s protective dismay.

“One hour.” Carlos pulled his phone from his pocket and made a point to show her the timer he had set.

Evie laughed, rolling her eyes. “See you guys soon.” She turned and walked away from them, back through the Bazar, most people looking up at the sun in wide-eyed caution.

Her three friends watched her cautiously, they wanted to follow after her, but told themselves they wouldn’t. Instead, they began crossing the bridge, trying to make the walk take as long as they possibly could… Six minutes, forty-two seconds later, they were back on the Auradon side, and Evie was no where in their sight.

She took the familiar streets, past Curl Up and Dye, toward the dock she once found comfort in. He was there, like she thought he would be, in their normal spot of all places.

Evie sighed, and sat beside him. “Barrier’s open.” She said, eyes cast out to the lapping waters.

“Uma said.” Harry informed her, his own eyes stuck on the ocean.

“What’s going on?” Evie asked, whispering.

Harry didn’t answer, and so Evie looked to him at last, he looked like he had been crying, which would never do. She took his hooked hand and clasped her own half around his wrist and half around the hand that stuck out from the rest of the hook. She squeezed softly.

“It’s just me here.” Evie reassured him.

_He was safe_, was what she means to say, but he knew those words. He hadn’t seen her properly in a little over a year, only ever seeing her when he kidnapped Ben and had their sword fight, but everything was so fast paced, he didn’t have a chance to enjoy the moment, or the beautiful dark hue of her eyes now that they glinted in the sunlight that filtered into the Isle.

Harry looked at her, and he stared for a moment. Her mascara was badly done, and her cheeks were a little _too_ pink, nothing like he had seen the few days prior in Auradon.

“Visit yer mother?” He asked, letting out a small chuckle.

He didn’t think her cheeks could get any pinker, but they did, beneath her make-up, and he saw the way she flushed with embarrassment.

“That obvious?” She asked and found herself trying again in vain to rub the blush off of her cheeks.

“Only a little.” Harry played it down, not wanting to embarrass her further.

Evie stopped rubbing her cheek, leaving a red mark from where she tried to get the blush off of herself, Harry was looking back out to the sea, and Evie followed his gaze.

“What if I’m not good enough?” Harry asked, so quiet it was nearly lost to the waves.

“Harry…” Evie breathed out softly. He looked back to her again, and she gave him a gentle smile, “Hades is over there… And Dr. Facillier, even Mr. Smee. I don’t think you’re not going to be ‘good enough’ to be accepted by us, or by those stuck up Princes and Princesses. Her fingers ghosted beneath the hook, tracing over his knuckles gently.

“And even if you slip up, which you will, we all do, I will be there for you. And Uma. And Gil. We’ll keep you on the right track.” She promised.

Harry knew she didn’t promise lightly, so he smiled with relief at her words. “Ye promise?” He asked.

Evie nodded her head; her smile was beginning to reach toward her ears it was that wide and joyous. “I do. Come on, if I’m not back soon, Mal, Jay and Carlos are going to tear up the Isle looking for me.” Evie let out a sigh.

She pushed herself to her feet and extended her hand to him, helping him up.

Harry gave one last glance over the dock, over Uma’s ship, over his father’s, before turning to walk with Evie, hand in hand. When they reached the bridge, he squeezed her hand.

“Can I just have a moment?” He asked.

Evie nodded, “Absolutely.” She kissed his cheek fleetingly, leaving a red lipstick stain that he didn’t realise was there.

Evie let her hand leave his and walked back over the bridge with brisk steps. Two minutes later, and she was back in the garden at Mal’s engagement party, telling Carlos to stop his damn timer, because she was perfectly fine.

Twenty minutes after, she noticed Harry walk through the archway and into the garden. He saw Uma and walked over to her. Both of them hugging, glad they had made it to Auradon at last. She saw the way Uma tutted, and did the motherly way of licking her thumb before trying to rub the red kiss off of Harry’s cheek, and caught her eyes before Uma rolled her own away from Evie, getting stuck into a conversation with Harry.

Evie smiled as she looked around… because this… this was family, and suddenly, everything felt _right_ once again.


End file.
